Homo Superior
by Vahn
Summary: Homo Superior: 1. Above or beyond the human; preternatural or supernatural. 2. Beyond ordinary or normal human ability, power, or experience. The three mutants the X-men finds at Jusendo will either change everything or help maintain the balance.
1. Introduction

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

WARNING: This sucker was self edited and written in a short time. So if you see a grammatical flaw, please feel free to PM me so we can arrange some way for you to assist:D

Homo Superior

Chapter 1

***Winchester, New York ***

The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning was a the first of it's kind. Unlike other places of Academia, the Xavier school offered a curriculum unmatched by any school in the world, save maybe S.H.I.E.L.D training facilities. Along with the regular studies any student would learn like Math, Science, Biology, and History, it also taught a less standard course. For it was here that mutant kind had found a safe haven, a place where they would not be feared or hated, and where they could learn to control their powers. A place to foster trust between Homo Superior and Homo Sapien.

All of these potential powerhouses under one roof, in a manner of speaking, might had been cause for concerns for many people. Not so for Charles Xavier, the world most powerful telepath. Of course he was not alone, by his side were the Uncanny X-men, mutants who had helped save the world many times over. Not many dared to cross them, and those that do often found themselves regretting it.

And so, on a bright and sunny day, it was here that Professor Charles Xavier found himself looking out of the window from his office, watching his students play a high-powered game of baseball. Logan was refereeing the match of course. Indestructible bones and a healing factor playing a large part in his lack of concern in regards to potential misfires.

"Professor?"

"Yes, Jean?" the Founder of the School acknowledged his prized redheaded protege, Jean Grey. He knew that one day she would surpass him in terms of sheer power, if she hadn't already.

"The reports from this week budgets, and Scott had some potential changes to the danger room for you to look at. He said it would be a good way to surprise the students." Jean Grey, one of the original members of the X-men showed the paperwork for their headmaster to sign.

"Ah yes, let's see here," Xavier made a big show of looking down at the paper, and promptly signed his approval over the tweak to the extra curriculum without even taking the time to read it. If Scott wanted to change something, he would trust his pupil's judgment.

"Professor!" Jean half chided her mentor. She could swear that the older he grew, the more lax the professor seemed to have become.

"Well, I am not going to gainsay Mr. Summers," Professor Xavier smiled before looking out of the window again. "Now I do believe today is too perfect of a day to waste being cooped up inside. Perhaps the students would be inclined to let me participate in their game of baseball."

Jean rolled her eyes, but stepped aside to let the wheel chaired man pass. It was a shame to her that despite all of his power, he was unable make himself walk again. No sooner had he passed her than the com on her wrist beeped.

"Jean, Professor," Hank McCoy, aka Beast, spoke aloud over the speaker. "Cerebro just detected a power spike, it's came from an Omega level mutant."

The Professor and Jean looked at one another, alarmed. There were very few Omega level mutants in the world. Among them were the Professor himself, Magneto, and Apocalypse. There are others of course, Storm and Jean was among them, but their powers weren't on quite the same level, at least not yet. To find yet another one was alarming to say the least. He was hopeful of finding an ally, but at the same time, he was cautious should things turn out for the worse.

"Were is this Mutant located Mr. McCoy?" Professor X asked of his one time student.

"China, Professor." Hank replied before sounds of key click could be heard in the back ground. "I recommended you assembled the team right away, the power scale of this one is off the charts. There are also several other mutants signature nearby, two within the vicinity of the omega level mutant. I believe they are fighting each other."

The two Telepaths looked at one another in alarm before mentally calling for the X-men. They would get the details as they made their way over to China.

**** Hours later, Jusendo***

Ranma collapsed on his back, breathing hard. He did it. He killed Saffron, and now the little bastard has reverted into an egg. The fight itself was beyond a doubt the deadliest battle he had ever found himself in, the only thing that came close being his training in the Neko ken. Yet despite it all, what occupied his mind now was the transformation his fiancee and his rival appeared to have displayed during said battle.

'Was it magic from Jusenkyo?' he wondered. Why would Ryoga's skin turn completely into stone like that? Solid enough to be able to withstand Saffron's piercing heat no less. Then, there was the doll-like Akane that had been in his shirt. When he channeled his cold Ki, he felt the doll doing the same, and when Saffron's flames touched her, he was almost certain that the doll-like Akane had manipulated the flame somehow in his immediate vicinity to create little openings for him.

Well none of it mattered, as far as Ranma was concerned, it was par for the course. Of course Jusendo was a complete wreck, and the water that revived Akane was warm from the saturated heat in the area keeping him male. Akane herself was blinking at her hand in confusion. Not too far away from her was the still Stone-like Ryoga, staring at his own hands in fascination.

Ranma smirked a bit at that, he always knew Ryoga had rocks for brains, now it was a proven fact! He was just about to toss some insults toward his rival, when he sensed something different in the wind. Looking up he saw the odd disturbance in the air. It was as if something was cloaking itself in a poor version of the umi-sen-ken, yet the faint traces and distortion in the air already gave away it's location. Looking at Ryoga, he saw noticed the pig-curse boy was also looking up into the sky having sensed that something was off.

It was then that he felt a pressure or presence brushed itself against his mind. If he didn't know better, it was almost as if it was trying to read his thoughts, which he knew was impossible, as the only time he'd encountered something like that, there had been no sensation to warn him of the child's escapades in his mind. Yet the presence and pressure was there. By sheer force of will, he concentrated and angrily tried to rebuff the invasive presence. He felt genuine shock and surprise radiate from the invader before the thing removed itself from his mind.

"Akane, Ryoga! Watch out! Something's trying to invade our minds!" Ranma warned in real alarm, having realized that the presence might try to attack his friends next.

Akane, who had appeared slightly dazed from the Saffron battle, heard Ranma's warning and looked around in alarm. It was then another presence made itself known, this one felt softer, more feminine. That's when it spoke.

'Forgive our intrusion, the Professor just wanted to ascertain as to what happened here, we are landing, then we can meet face to face.'

Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane looked at each other wild eyed. There was no one else with them, but the voice sounded very loud and clear.

"Wh-Wha-What was that?!" Ryoga shouted in half hysterics. Just what he needed, another ghost haunting him!

Akane however, was more concerned that this female ghost might be yet another of Ranma fiancees, somehow. It was something that could happen she stubbornly believed, though given the chaos that surrounded them, this was one of her LESS crazy conclusions.

It was then the air kicked up around them and a heavy thud sound could be heard. Ranma saw that there was a deep indent in the ground not far from where they were standing. It looked as if something heavy landed in the area. A moment later, he was proven right as a black plane of some sort revealed itself.

No sooner had the black plane unveil itself that it's side opened up and a walk way extended to the ground. The first person that exited the plane was a bald headed old man in a wheelchair, followed by a pretty redheaded woman, flanked by a dangerous looking hairy man and a handsome man that was wearing some sort of visor over his eyes. They were all dressed in some sort of sleek streamline outfit. Some more colorful then others.

"My name is Charles Xavier, and I apologized for probing your minds earlier." the bald white man said in perfect Japanese before giving a formal bow.

The three Japanese teen was surprise by the gestured but acknowledge it. Ranma waved it off while Ryoga and Akane bowed back in kind.

"I see. So what brings ya out here?" Ranma asked waving at the destroyed area. Not exactly a tourist spot anymore, though even when it was it was a shitty tourist spot to begin with.

The bald man looked directly at Akane and Ryoga and seem to be communicating mentally with them if Ranma were to guess. A moment later, his guess appeared to be dead on the mark as Akane appeared to recoil in horror.

"What do you mean by I'm a mutant?!"

"What?! That can't be, I'm a martial artist is all!" Ryoga also chimed in, apparently having received the same news.

Ranma saw the bald crippled man looked sad at their reaction, he had heard of mutants on his travels. People born with special abilities that set them apart. When he was passing through the America's, the hatred for mutants appeared to be strong. He didn't particularly care, but what if he was a mutant too? Would his mother hold it against him? he worried.

"Please, it is nothing to be ashamed of," the redheaded woman explained, stepping forward with a kind expression on her face. "I myself did not want to believe I was different from others when I first learned of my ability to read minds."

Akane and Ryoga appeared to have stood closer to each other, as if for protection, but the Redhead woman continued on.

"I remember being able to hear the thoughts of everyone near me, of what they really thought about me, about each other. Hundred of voices all speaking at the same time, and I couldn't shut them out."

The Duo suddenly looked less belligerent, and instead appeared interested in the redhead's story.

"It was thanks to the Professor here that I was able to learn how to control my powers and filter out the voices. It was hard, but I wasn't alone. I had a group of friends that helped support me along the way. Friends that I found at the Xavier School for Higher Learning. A school you two can attend as well."

Akane suddenly look as if something occurred to her. "Wait two? Why not three? I mean we're all mutants, right?"

Ranma could see the bald man winced a bit at what Akane said. "Ms. Tendo, I apologize, but I did gather your name when I brushed up against your mind. Mutant is a derogatory terms for our kind. We are Homo Superior but that does not mean we are better, we are simply the next step in human evolution."

Akane blushed in embarrassment at the slight reprimanded but nodded.

"Of course that is not to say we don't use the terms ourselves, but as for two, only you and Mr. Hibiki are mutants, Mr. Saotome is not a mutant."

Ranma thought for sure he was going to be told he was a mutant, a mutant of bad luck or something if he had to guess. To find out he wasn't one was quite surprising.

"We would have to talk it over with your parents of course, but I have to say that being among hundreds of your peers that are also learning how to control their powers could be a very rewarding experience."

"There's more of you...them... us, out there?" Akane faltered a bit as she struggled to reconcile with the fact that she was a mutant.

"Oh my goodness yes, my school alone has five hundred in attendance, and more are coming into their powers everyday."

There was a moment of silence as Akane and Ryoga digested the new information.

"Now as to what brought us here, there was another mutant here, an omega level mutant that we detected here. Judging by the destruction around he or she was here. Where did that person go?"

"Omega level mutant?" Akane prompted curiously.

"Yes, Mutants are classified into types of power. You and Mr. Hibiki could be Alpha types. But Omega level mutants can cause wide spread destruction and are incredibly powerful. Some use their powers responsibly like me, Ms. Grey here, and Storm. Others... abuse it for their own ends."

Turning around in his wheelchair Professor Xavier observed the area. "Judging by the wide spread destruction, I would guess that the Omega mutant was a fire user."

"Um... Professor-san," Akane tentatively ventured. "If you were looking for the person who caused all this destruction, it was a being name Saffron... we thought he was magical in nature. I didn't think he was a mutant."

"Magic?" the Professor asked curiously.

"You don't believe in magic do you?" Akane sighed only to be surprised when the Professor nodded his head.

"We have encountered magic before, in fact one of our students mutation was of the magical nature."

"On. Well, in any case, he's over there."Akane said pointing at a little egg on the ground. The redhead, Ms. Grey. Walked over and picked up the egg staring at the pearl white shell.

"Professor! This.. this is the omega level mutant!" Jean marveled out loud. "I can sense his thoughts, they are both old and young at the same time. How is that possible? What is he?"

No sooner had Jean made her observation that the top of the eggshell cracked, revealing a humanoid figure with white locks of hair with a red little streak running down the middle. Upon closer inspection, the humanoid figure appeared to be like their other team mate, Angel, with the wings on the baby's back. However unlike Angel, this baby had sharper hand like claws.

Jean had to admit the little creature in her hand was absolutely adorable. She suppressed a coo when it's small frame tried to clear the rest of the egg shells in it's way while blinking it's eyes blearily. She couldn't help but compare it similar to a baby bird hatching. It was then the baby as if sensing her presence turn it's still closed eyes toward her.

Golden confused orbs revealed itself as the baby opened his eyes and saw the person holding him.

Jean didn't know what happened but the moment the baby eyed her, she felt a faint spike of the Phoenix entity present inside of her. Yet as quickly as she felt it, it disappeared, leaving her confused. Turning her attention back to the mutant egg in her hand she noticed that it's eyes had widened considerably, and it was now staring at her before it opened it mouth and changed her life.

"Mama?" the little winged being ventured as his eyes fixed upon the red head female before him. "Mama!"

"Wha? No... I..." Jean stuttered in denial but the little bird being simply gazed at her in adoration.

"Well well, I'll be, It looks like he imprinted on you Ms. Grey, Congratulations, it's a boy." Professor Xavier smiled at the completely flabbergasted looked on his protege's face. Behind him he could feel the mute surprise form his other two students.

"Ahaha!" Ranma laughed at what became of the former Lord of Jusendo, unknowingly drawing attention to himself.

"Ummm Professor?" Akane inquired softly to the older man as the other two men had made their way to the red head woman.

"Yes, Ms. Tendo?" Professor X responded kindly.

"You say Omega level mutants are powerful right? I mean what Saffron did, all around us, that is the power of an Omega level mutant?" Akane wave her arm as to encompass the entire area.

"That is correct," the Professor nodded sagely.

"Are you sure Ranma is not a mutant?" Akane asked seriously.

"No, Mr. Saotome does not appeared to have the X-Gene that Cerebro could detect. He is your average human," Professor X replied seriously making sure to not offend the young Mr. Saotome.

"If that's the case, then how did Ranma defeat Saffron?" Akane pointed out as she looked at her fiancee.

Ranma suddenly felt a lot more eyes on him, some speculative while other's was curious. Thankfully none of them were hostile.

Yet.

AN: Days of the Future Past, saw it, and the latest X-men comic. This was the result. It simply won't leave me alone. So here it goes. I am still deciding if I should make it a Romp or Half serious. Maybe even all serious.

I am going to go with X-men not any time line in particular, Jean is still alive, but Emma and the Cuckoos are also at the school. Rouge is the young Rogue from in the movie, so is Iceman while Kitty is old enough to be a professor. Pretty much everything here and there. So I won't be bog down by any particular X-men timeframe.

Obviously Homo Superior is a play on the Mutant word by saying Superior Human. Which, Ranma is after a fashion.

Things I can see down the line is the encounter with Mr. Sinister, Apocalypse, Magneto, Juggernaut, Sentinels, and of course introducing Ranma to the Xavier School.

Also I am going with the mutants having secondary mutation. So Ryoga stone from is his second. Guess his first.

Not sure if I would continue this until I nail down a tone I wanna go with but I though it would be fun. As for Saffron being a mutant, why not? Apocalypse was an old ass mutant form Egypt, Saffron could be the same. One of thing I had in mind was that Saffron kept Apocalypse in check through the ages. That by the time they are done battling one another, Empires fell and both had to go back to their lair to heal respectively.

But yeah, C+C welcome. So is feedback. Still unsure of the direction.

As for those that follow my other works :P Warp is in editorial and Lioness is 50% done. ^_^ Thanks!


	2. Orientation: Part One

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

Homo Superior

Special thanks to Death of Sniper and Mingyu for helping me edit this :D Enjoys your hard works guys!

Orientation: Part One

**** In U.S Airspace, Two weeks after the battle with Saffron ***

Ranma grumbled under his breath at the unfairness of it all. It wasn't his fault that Akane turned into a mutant, so why the two fathers acted like he was responsible he'd never know. From the corner of his eye, he saw Akane chatting with a purple-skinned girl animatedly, in English no less. Next to Akane was Ryoga, talking to a guy that look older than them by a couple of years. Surprisingly, Ryoga was talking to said guy in Russian. He chalked that up to the fact that Ryoga really got around.

"How are you doing Ranma?"

The boy in question looked up and saw the white-haired black woman giving him a kind smile. Ranma believed she was introduced as Storm or Ooro, oreo? Oro? Something with an O, he tried to remember.

"Not too bad... we almost there yet?"

Storm smiled at the pigtailed youth, but mentally frowned. Why on Earth had the professor invited this non-mutant to the school? She didn't have anything against the youth, but their school was created for mutants to interact with each other. A safe haven from humankind until they could learn how to control their power, not to mention a place for their festering hatred for humanity to slowly heal. To let a regular human attend the school, no matter how skilled, was just asking for trouble.

"Almost, I believe we just crossed Iowa, so it shouldn't be too much longer."

"Ah I see," Ranma replied before leaning back against the chair, looking at the woman. Now some might wonder how he could talk so fluently in English. Well, they have Professor Xavier to thank for that little bit of a boon. He pretty much downloaded the entire English dictionary into their heads, and their brains were slowly getting used to it.

Storm nodded, sensing that the young teen didn't want to talk anymore, and went back to the cockpit where Cyclops was steering.

"How're our new students?" Scott Summers, Codename: Cyclops, asked of his teammate.

Exhaling, the weather witch sat down in the co-pilot seat and checked the readings. "Quite well, Ms. Ferguson and Ms. Tendo are getting along well. Likewise Piotr and Mr. Hibiki are comparing notes on their respective mutant powers."

"And Ranma?" Scott asked as he turned around in his seat to check out the scene himself.

"Mr. Saotome clearly does not want to be here," Storm said glancing over to the pigtailed boy who now had his eyes closed and leaning against the bulkhead. "I still think it's a bad idea bringing him along."

"Well it was the only way Ms. Tendo's father would have ever agreed to enroll his daughter into the school."

"You know that we rarely cave into parents' ultimatums if they are not one-hundred percent on board with it, so why bother bringing someone who clearly does not want to be here?"

Scott sighed and adjusted for the oncoming turbulence. The shift was so smooth no one noticed the change. "Well, Hank's theory is that Mr. Saotome might also be a mutant despite Cerebro telling us otherwise. The first time we met Mr. Saotome, he reacted very negatively to being asked for lab samples."

"But if he enrolled in the school, he would need to do a full checkup anyway," Storm realized and nodded. "So we really are going with the assumption that Mr. Saotome defeated Saffron?"

"So Ms. Tendo and Mr. Hibiki claimed. Maybe he's a superhuman like Captain America or could be of Asgardian descent, but for a human to just defeat an omega level mutant, there has to be something different about him. A full lab workup would let us know more. In the meantime he'll go to school and learn, after all he is Ms. Tendo's fiancee."

"Well, I can tell you right now, his attitude won't endear him to any of the students," Storm pointed out as she turned back to face the front screen.

Scott gave his co-pilot an easy grin. "Hey, we've had troublesome students before, what's one more?"

**** Xavier Institute, Hours Later***

"Now turn your head and cough Mr. Saotome," Jean Grey, Codename: Phoenix, said to the boxer-clad boy.

"What?!" Ranma head whip to face his "physician" only to see amusement in her eyes. "Hmmph!"

"Oh come on, it's just some Doctor Humor!" Jean half chided as she took out a glass of water. "You ready for your other side physical yet?"

Ranma looked hatefully at the glass of water in the redhead's hand and sighed. "Go ahead." To his surprise she did not splash him but instead gently poured it down his head slowly. At least she was courteous.

"Hmmmm," Jean mused as she took in the change and made her notes on the tablet pad. "Do you know if the change is complete, or just superficial?"

"Errr... I think it's complete..." a now feminine voice came from Ranma. "Surprised you didn't freak out a bit tho', most people do."

Jean absently nodded to Ranma's comment as she made the notes on the change in volume that Ranma's form underwent. "Seeing someone shape shift like you is hardly new. However in that case, I do believe her change is more like morphing and it's only for short durations at a time."

Ranma blinked at that, there was a shape changing mutant? He thought they had powers like the visor guy's eye beam or the black woman's weather changing powers. Shape shifting hardly qualified as a power to him.

"Tell me, have you ever experienced a period in your girl form?" Jean asked professionally, still making the notes in Ranma's medical file. She looked up when there was no reply and saw a completely red faced Ranma looking away from her. "Hmm, I am going to go with a yes. How fascinating."

"Gee, thanks, I'm happy to amuse ya," Ranma said bitingly to cover up her embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Mr. Saotome, that was rude of me," Jean apologized, immediately sensing her patient's comfort level dropping. She didn't even need to scan the boy-turned-girl to tell that, it was written plain as day on the girl's face.

"Gah! Stop calling me Mr. Saotome, it sounds weird. Ranma is fine. Anyway, I guess it's not a biggie. I just don't like being treated like a circus freak for people's amusement," Ranma waved off the redhead's sincere apology. "So any idea how much longer this will take?"

Jean smiled at the boy's easy going nature, and answered his question. "Well maybe a bit longer, we need to run the same battery of tests on your female form that we did for your male form."

Ranma inwardly groaned, as the tests he was put through before had been extensive, but she could understand their concern about germs and diseases. Heck, she would be too. She didn't want to be the cause of getting somebody sick. Of course, that was when her stomach grumbled loudly, letting them know that it was time to eat.

"Oh," Jean commented, blinking. She realized they had been in here for a while now with no food. Looking at the clock she could see that it was almost noon already. "One second, lemme see if I can get us a couple trays of food."

The smirk on the younger redheaded girl's lips let Jean knew her exact thoughts on the subject matter. Hitting a switch on the panel, she called whoever was on kitchen duty today.

"Kitty here, what's up Jean?" a young voice said from the com panel.

"Hey Kitty, how's the lunch rush treating you?" Jean inquired with a smile.

"Pretty good today, I got the Stepford Cuckoos on duty today. Coincidentally, the boys are pretty well behaved today too. Gee, I wonder why."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Jean smirked through the intercom. Boys will be boys. Before any small talk could be done another grumble from Ranma's stomach told her to do away with the pleasantries. "Anyway, Kitty, is there anyway you can bring me and my patient here something to eat?"

"No problem, here at Pryde's Kitchen you get your food in five minutes or your money back," Came the joking reply.

"Thanks Kitty," Jean replied before hitting the off switch. Turning back to Ranma, she asked the girl to have a seat by her.

"Five minutes through all the twists and turns you guys lead me through?" Ranma asked as she wore one of those hospital gowns Jean gave her. She remembered landing in the docking bays and then taking an elevator followed by long, complicated walkways to this room. It took them a good ten minutes.

"Oh yes, you'll see soon enough," Jean said as she went back to finishing up the little notes on the profile for Ranma's male form. As soon as she finished she saw Ranma's head whipping up to look at the ceiling, the girl's eyes narrowing. Following her line of sight, she noticed there was nothing there, until a moment later, Kitty Pryde, Codename: Shadowcat, phased through the ceiling top and landed on the floor with two trays of food in her hands.

"Tah-Dah!" Kitty announced cheerily before taking in the sight of the new visitor. "Ohh this must be...umm... Akane Tendo right?"

Before Ranma could respond, Jean interjected smoothly. "Wrong, this here is Mr. Ranma Saotome."

Kitty turned to look at Ranma and gave the girl a once over. "So you can change shape too or just different genders?"

The girl reaction squashed Ranma's indignation at being called Akane. "Errr... no..this is it."

"Really? That's it? Male to female? What a rip off of a power!" Kitty huffed as if offended for Ranma. "I swear why do the bad guys get all the really good ones?"

"Kitty, focus, food please?" Jean reminded her friend.

"Right, here we go, Five Cheese Lasagna today, enjoy!"

Placing the trays on the table, Kitty ran through the walls and took her own shortcut back to the ground level.

Ranma stared at the girl that just left. While shape changing might not be that great of a power in his mind, being able to phase through things like that could be deadly in the right hands. Any further thoughts on the subject was cut off as the smell of the western food made it's way to her nose.

Jean saw the drool escaping Ranma's mouth and handed the girl her plate. Now, not much phased Jean, she'd even seen a feral Wolverine eat, but to have the food just inhaled in less then three seconds was a bit disturbing to her.

"Whoa, that's good, can I have more?" Ranma asked while eyeing Jean's tray.

Morbidly curious at wanting to see that feat again, she handed her tray over to Ranma and watched the girl... absorb the food in her mouth. There was no way that could be called eating.

+++Later +++

By the time they were done Ranma was getting fed up with all the tests. She had tried her best to be polite as her mother had counseled him to do, but after then tenth vial of drawn blood she had it about up to here with the whole thing. In fact, she was about to tell Jean off when the woman turned in her chair and smiled.

"And we're all done!" She announced happily.

The way Jean smiled and the happy mood she projected acted as a foil to Ranma's growing anger. "R-really?"

"Yup, all done. I must say, you are completely healthy in both forms, at least according to the preliminary test. The labs results won't come back for a few more hours, but I'll say you are now free to walk around school grounds."

"That's good... I guess?"

"Here you go," Jean said as she handed the redhead girl a cup of hot water.

"Uh... thanks?" Ranma said before dumping the water over herself turning her back into her male form. It was then a thought occurred to him. "Oh, where are Akane and Ryoga? Will they be meeting me?"

"Hmm?" Jean asked absently as she finish labeling all of Ranma blood vials, both by hand and with her telekinesis ability. "Oh them, they were done hours ago."

"What? How?! Ryoga got the sa-" Ranma started before clamping his mouth shut about Ryoga Jusenkyo curse. Still, how did pig boy get finished before him?

"Well with Ms. Tendo it was easy, she only had the one form," Jean explained as she started to finalize her notes. "As for Mr. Hibiki, he was under Hank's, that's Dr. McCoy, care. Mr. Hibiki has also disclosed the fact that he transforms into a small Suinae but whatever the trigger was, it does not appear to work in his new form."

"... What?" The once more pigtailed boy scratched his head, trying to decipher the redhead's words.

"... He does not turn into a little pig in his mutant form," Jean explained simply. "Oddly enough, he still does in his human form, but Mr. Hibiki is choosing to stay in his granite form for now."

Ranma did not know whether to be angry that Ryoga found a pseudo-cure or not. Technically, all Ryoga did was trade one form for another. "So... where are they now?"

"Orientation," Jean replied as she now finished with all the paperwork just in time as she had sensed a familiar presence heading her way. "Blink, the girl you met on the plane AKA Claire Ferguson, is giving Mr. Hibiki a tour along with Ms. Tendo. Rogue is also with them. Think of them like sponsors of a sort until they can stand on their own two feet."

"Oh," Ranma said intelligently. If Akane and Ryoga had people guiding them, did that mean he did also? "Does that mean I'm gonna get a babysitter too?"

Jean had to quirk a smile at the boys apt description of Blink and Rogue's current job description. For Blink, it was natural to pair her up with Mr. Hibiki. To discover that he had manifested not one, but two mutations was surprising. To travel long distances in a short time anywhere he pleases, if he could harness that ability... the benefit would be staggering. As for Ms. Tendo, she still have that one ability where she could manipulate the elements but not actually create any of her own.

"You do, she will be along shortly. Now if you'd excuse me, I believe I am about to get a fussy little guest soon." Jean sighed as she glanced at the door just in time to see Kiima of the Phoenix Tribe holding a crying Saffron in her arms as she entered.

"Kiima?!" Ranma asked in shock. Saffron's right hand bitch was here at the mutant school? He remembered her being immaculately clean and haughty the last time he seen her at Jusendo. The Kiima before him now looked disheveled, and if he didn't know better, he'd say she had bags underneath her eyes.

"Saotome?" Kiima responded, also in mild shock at seeing the mortal boy that slew their ruler here of all places. Instinctively she held the crying Saffron closer to her, her wings furled about her protectively. She knew that Ranma would be well within his rights to exact revenge on her and her lord. She also knew she had little chance of stopping him if he decided to attack them.

Jean was a bit surprised by Kiima's reaction to Ranma, but ignored it as Saffron's crying grew more distressed.

After feeling no oncoming attack by the vengeful mortal, she saw Lady Grey holding out her hands expectantly for Lord Saffron. While keeping an eye on the pigtailed boy, she handed the crying baby over to the mind speaker.

As if by magic, the moment Jean had the crying baby in her arms, he stopped. "Awww, why were you crying?" Jean cooed softly to a still teary-eyed Saffron. "Did someone miss mommy? Huh? Did you miss mommy?"

Apparently soothed by her words the baby smiled at his self-proclaimed mother and giggled. Giggling turned to laughter as Jean made silly faces at the baby causing yet another fit of laughter.

After having placated the baby, Jean turned back to her patient only to see his eyes wide as if taking in the scene for the first time. "Ah yes, I do believe there was some bad blood between you two right?"

"I wouldn't just call it bad blood," Ranma finally responded after a few seconds of silence. He glared at Kiima causing the winged woman to take an involuntary step back. People trying to kill him was one thing. Kiima actually did kill Akane. He couldn't forgive that, even if all turned out well.

"Well, at this school, none of that exists," Jean said firmly to nip any resentment in the bud. "This is a school for fostering peace and understanding. In fact, a few of the teachers at this school and other seeded institutes used to be our enemies before we found common ground."

"I offer my most sincere apologies for everything that had happened, and offer my life as recompense," Kiima said with a low bow. "If you want to kill someone, please kill me. I offer myself in my lord's place."

"What did I just sa-" Jean started but was interrupted by a stopping motion from Ranma hand.

Walking slowly over to the winged woman, Ranma look down at the still bowing woman. It would be so easy for him to hit the back of her neck to snap her spine. She did kill Akane after all, what would she had done if Akane did not come back to life? However, Akane DID come back and that was all that mattered. "Che, Whatever, I'll let it slide."

"My thanks Lord Saotome," Kiima said respectfully before raising her head to take in the powerful mortal before her. She then turn her attention to her Lord's "mother". "I am sorry Lady Grey but my Lord woke up and looked for you right away, when he didn't see you he..."

"I understand," Jean said smiling as she look down at the baby in her arms. "He's probably just hungry and wanted mama bird to feed him huh! Let's go find you something to eat!"

The baby, as if in acknowledgment, cooed happily at the redhead.

"I believe your guide will be here shortly," Jean said winking at Ranma while bouncing Saffron up and down in her arms. "Meet you topside!"

Kiima kept silent during the exchange but gave a nod of acknowledgment to Ranma before following the easy going redhead.

Ranma took a few moments to gather his thoughts on everything. Once again he questioned actually coming to this school for super powered people. He wasn't like them, they were learning how to control their abilities. Ranma didn't have abilities to learn how to control. Although he could guess why Kiima would be here at the Xavier school. Still, if he went back to Nerima, he would never hear the end of it from their fathers, not to mention Nabiki, who told him in no uncertain terms that she felt Akane was safer with him near.

He knew someone was going to enter the room before the doors even opened. He was getting better at detecting people. He had to admit, mutants did give off a slightly different presence than regular people. Stronger, if he had to describe it. He chalked it up to their powers.

As the sound of the door open he turned to greet his would-be tour guide and looked upon the face of hell itself.

"Hi! You must be Ranma! I'm Sybil, but people call me Feral around these parts, hehe due to my cat like nature you see." Sybil Clark, Codename: Feral, was one of the unlucky few to get a physical mutation along with her powers. Where once there was pure white porcelain skin, there was now blond fur, her hands had became more clawlike, and as if that wasn't bad enough, she even grew a tail! It was the worse birthday present she could have ever gotten for her sweet sixteen. She'd never forget the look of disgust in her friends' eyes or how her parents had screamed in fright. Before she knew it, they had chased her out of her own home. She had went a few days without food, being chased like some common stray when Professor Wolverine found her. She'd never forget the warmth and kindness the X-family showed her, how no one judged her and slowly yet surely she recovered from her trauma. Thankfully fur, tail and claws were all she got. Her face remained humanoid enough to pass for pretty and more then a few boys hit on her now.

Eventually, she felt that need to to give back to the institution that gave her so much, and had volunteered to show the new people around. To guide those that had less then ideal disposition like she had when she first came to the school.

"CAAAAH!"

"Hmm?" Sybil asked in alarm as she started to close the distance between her and the shocked-looking boy. Her feline senses could tell that the mood that had been neutral before had turned sour in a way. "Ranma?"

"Gah! Get away from me!" Ranma shouted in fear as he backed away from the large-looking demon from hell!

"A-are you okay?" Sybil asked in a concerned voice but somewhere in the back of her mind, she was having a flashback of her sweet sixteen. But she squashed it down. No, this was Xavier school. Those kind of things didn't happen here. Slowly, as gently as she could, she reached out to try and soothe the distressed boy only to have him back even further knocking over medical equipment.

"Don't touch me!" Ranma shouted vehemently as the demon thing got closer. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that something was off about this entire situation. Yet the primal part of him, the child adolescence that was in the cat pit overrode his reasoning. "Get away!"

The looks in his eyes, the fear that Sybil saw, smell, sensed, was the exact same that her parents, her friends had for her. Trauma she had gotten over hit her hard and she backed away slowly from the frighten boy. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to scare you."

With that, the feline mutant notified Jean Grey and left the room with tears in her eyes.

Ranma stared at the door to make sure the demon thing went away for real before regaining his senses just in time to see an alarmed Jean Grey and a half-angry Wolverine busting in the room. Even a blue furred beast thing was with them.

"Ranma, what happened?" Jean asked immediately upon seeing Ranma. She had been able to sense his fear, so great was it projection as she made her way back. Saffron had been fed relatively quickly and was now being taken care of by Kiima.

Wolverine however was angry. "I'll help you pack ya little punk, we don't have room for racist pricks like ya around here. And who's with Feral anyway?"

"I notified Ms. Pryde, I am sure she can calm Sybil down," Hank McCoy said in a calm tone as if to placate Wolverine as he read over Ranma's chart. Specifically, the psyche evaluation that showed that Ranma was practically fearless.

Ranma looked between the three adults with three different emotions. The talking blue beast seemed curious, the hairy man's anger was palpable, Jean was concerned, though there was a frowning expression on her face as if reserving judgment.

"What happened what?" Ranma asked back, not knowing what Jean wanted from him.

"I tell ya what happened, the boy here saw a mutant and freaked out like those other mutant hate mongers," Wolverine answered for Ranma.

"What?" Ranma shot up to his feet looking offended. "I am NOT like those guys, I don't have problems with any mutant as long as they don't have a problem with me!"

"Yeah well, tell that to the girl you sent crying out of here, ruining all the hard work she had done to get over the fact that she looks different ya little shit!"

"What girl?" Ranma asked in confusion. However his reply only seemed to incense the hairy man as his instinct warned him that he was about to be attacked. Fine by him, he could use a good throw down anyway.

"Why you little shi-"

"Logan! Enough!" Jean shouted to calm her friend down before turning back to Ranma. "Ranma there was a girl in here just recently, she was a mutant, but she said you looked at her in disgust and revulsion, as if you were afraid of her. Is that true?"

"What girl? I didn't see any girl walk in," Ranma explained himself looking at the three adults.

"You little-"

"Ranma, it was-"

"Wait Jean," Hank said from aside and step in front of Ranma standing tall as if to make himself look menacing. "Are you afraid of me Mr. Saotome?"

Ranma looked up to the blue-furred man and stood his ground. "Do I look scared to you?"

"Jean, can you sense any fear from him?" Hank asked still maintaining eye contact with the youth.

The moment Ranma felt a brush on his mind he knew that he was being mind-read. He couldn't do anything about it but he didn't like it. "Hey! Quit that would ya!"

Jean, who had been preparing to help Logan pack Ranma's bag was deflated. Hank's Beast form was considered menacing by anybody's standard. If Ranma was afraid and disgusted by Sybil, it should have been even more incensed in the presence of Hank. Yet there was nothing from Ranma, just confidence. Something wasn't adding up.

Wolverine, who had been ready to throw the boy out, was also starting to slowly cool down as he did not smell any fear or pick up any increased heart rate from the pigtail boy. From the moment Hank confronted him to even now, the boy heartbeat maintained a steady rhythm. When people sensed that they are in danger, or even afraid of something, their heartbeat usually quickens. The boy was telling the truth.

"Curiouser and Curiouser," Hank mumble as he took a tablet screen and called up Sybil's picture. Even he knew he looked more fearsome then any other animal-like mutants. Having called up the profile he unceremoniously show the picture to the pig tailed boy.

"Gah!" Ranma said as his eyes widened and he involuntarily stepped back from picture of the demon present before him.

"What the?" Wolverine asked in alarm as he now picked up Ranma increaseed heart rate.

"Ranma?" Jean asked again as she could now sense his fear after being shown the picture.

"Hmmm, how about this one?" Hank said as he switched to a picture of Wolfsbane, a canine type of mutant.

Tangible relief came from Ranma as he saw the picture of the dogish girl. "What about that one?"

"Hmmm," Hank said as he started to show Ranma a picture of all the non-normal looking mutant by society standard. He made note of the one that Ranma seem to tense up at but after a good forty pictures he decide to put his theory to the test. "Ranma, what do you think of these guys?"

To Jean and Logan surprise Hank showed Ranma a video of little kittens playing with each other. The overreaction they recieved from Ranma, however, was more interesting.

"Hmm, I think I got it," Hank mused after a few moment as he looked at Ranma. "Mr. Saotome, are you perhaps afraid of cats?"

"W-wah-what?" Ranma protested immediately. "I ain't afraid of nothing!"

Hank wordlessly showed Ranma a picture of a cat causing the pigtailed boy to jumped a bit. "I do believe Mr. Saotome has Ailurophobia."

"He's afraid of cats?" Wolverine asked flatly. "You're shitting me, right?"

"Ranma," Jean said in a soft tone often used by the professor. The next part was delicate, because Ranma seem extremely prideful and admitting weakness of any kind seem to threaten his self identity. "If you are afraid of cats, there is no shame in it."

"I'm not afraid of nothing!" Ranma once against protested but this time halfheartedly. If only to give lip service to the thing. Ranma Saotome was no coward!

"Ranma, if you don't want to tell us, that is okay too but in this school we have a few students who have... feline-like traits. In fact your guide was such a girl, and she thought she had disgusted you by being a mutant."

"Wh-what?" Ranma said looking up sharply. He never though they had mutations like that, and it never occurred to him that there could be cat-like mutation. In all fairness he never tried to think about the damn beast at all. "Is... is she okay?"

Jean and Hank smiled in approval while Wolverine grumble a bit before taking out a cigar and lighting it. Ranma actually showed concern and remorse for possibly hurting someone emotionally. That meant he had a conscience, at least.

"She fine, but the girl turned into a cat-girl at her sweet sixteen birthday party, she was chased out by her parents and friends for looking different. When we brought her back so that her parents could sign the consent form for her enrollment, the bastards signed it without a second thought. They were happy to be rid of the 'freak'."

"Aww man," Ranma groaned at the implication struck him. Now he felt like a douche bag, but he couldn't help it, she looked like one of … THEM!

"Can you tell us why you are so afraid of cats Ranma?" Jean asked softly. Seeing Ranma remain silent as if to embarrassed to air out such a weakness she offered him an alternative. "How about this Ranma, you give me permission to read your mind and I'll find out why without you having to admit it. Is that okay?"

Ranma weighed the two choices, he didn't want to tell that same ole sob story about the Cat-fist training but he also didn't like those damn telepaths reading his mind. However, if he told them he'd have to remember the damn little beast. Looking in to the green eyes of the pretty redhead, Ranma sighed. "Go ahead."

"Thank you, This will be strictly confidential unless you give me permission to tell my two colleagues," Jean said softy as she slowly pushed against Ranma's mind.

Hank and Logan waited for what amounted to a few minutes when suddenly Jean gasped and cried out in horror. Looking down they saw Ranma rubbing his head and nodding.

"Not very pretty was it?" Ranma asked ruefully.

"How... could he do that to you? You were barely a child!" Jean whispered in disgust.

"Jeannie?" Wolverine asked. He could sense Jean's real distress at whatever she found and handed her a cup of water that Hank gave to him.

"Life of a martial artist is fraught with peril and all that," Ranma replied with a shrug.

"Can I tell them?" Jean asked Ranma. "They won't really understand unless they know why."

"I guess..." Ranma agreed after a few seconds. What's a few more people?

Jean turned to her friends and instead of telling them, she showed them. The whole exchanged last almost a minute by the time it was over Wolverine looked angry while Hank appeared pale. No small feat with his dark blue skin.

"Even Magneto treats his kids better," Wolverine muttered darkly while looking at Ranma with grudging respect. "It wasn't nice what you did, but hell kid, if anyone went through what you went through I could understand why at least."

"Well, the question now is, Ranma, what do you plan on doing about it?" Jean asked the pigtailed boy.

Ranma shifted uncomfortably on his feet before sighing. "Well... I guess I'll have to apologize to the Ca-ca- Sybil, I didn't mean to make her feel bad..." He replied honestly.

Jean had to grin at that, and Wolverine and Hank's assessment of Ranma went up a few notches. "While that would be nice, I was talking more about your fear of... feline creatures."

"Oh, umm... I dunno. Try and suppress it to the best of my abilities?" Ranma guessed. He only ever dealt with the Cat-fist training, he know no real method of getting over it. At least he doesn't go all Cat-fisty at the first sign of a cat anymore.

"Ranma, there is no two ways around this, you need help, psychiatric help," Jean said bluntly and held up her hand to stop the protest that was about to shoot out of his mouth. "Just because you see a psychiatrist does not mean you are crazy or different, you just need someone to help you work through it. Everyone needs help and that is what Xavier school is here for."

"Hmph," Ranma snorted ruefully with his arms crossed, looking away. "Funny, I thought this school is for Mutants, my bad, Homo Superiors to learn how to control their abilities."

"We would help you even if we didn't know you, by association with your two friends," Jean replied immediately.

"I guess... but I don't think I can afford a shrink," Ranma gave a final sigh. "I mean you guys are already giving me a, whatchamacallit, scholarship here already. I don't think I can ask for anything more."

Jean grinned at that, "Well lucky for you the Xavier institute has a wide array of teachers who have double or even triple degrees in the real world. Hank here has a degree from M.I.T. and Harvard. Kitty, the one who brought us food earlier, has a degree in computer engineering along with being fluent in a multitude of languages. We have a few psychologists lying around, in fact, it just so happen that I am one."

Ranma shook his head at the smug redheaded woman in front of him. "So you offering to go inside this crazy head of mine to fix me with my ca—caa-... that problem?"

"If you aren't comfortable with me, there are others like-"

"Nah, you're fine," Ranma resigned himself. Free is free and the redhead seem non-judgmental enough. Heck, he hadn't even gotten malleted yet.

"Ok then," Jean smiled happily. Before mentally having a chat with her two friends. A moment later they left and in came Professor X.

"Oh, Professor Bal- I mean err... Xavier right?" Ranma corrected himself in time and saw the twinkle in the bald man's eye at the slip.

"Quite alright, this is my most distinguishing feature you know," The Professor said as he ran a hand over his shiny bald head. "Believe it or not, there was a time in my youth where I had long, lovely locks of hair you know."

"Telling tall tales again Professor?" Jean smirked at her mentor. As far back as any of them could remember, the Professor had always been bald. She couldn't even picture him with hair.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing Jean!" the Professor bantered before turning back to Ranma. "Now Mr. Saotome, Jean has informed me of what happened and what you have decided. Now we shall inform you of what we would like to do so that you can stay here without an incident like earlier."

"Ain't I seeing her for that problem?" Ranma motion with his head toward the other telepath in the room.

"Yes, you are, but while she will help you work with the problem, the issue now is the fact that you cannot be around our more feline students, and some of our students even have pets that are feline in nature," the Professor explained.

"Oh well, I mean, I'll try to avoid them as much as possible if it helps," Ranma offered but the chances of him running into a cat was pretty damn high.

"That is not that feasible and you know it," the Professor pointed out gently.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Not be afraid of it or something?" Ranma asked exasperated but then saw the serious expression on the Professor and Jean's face. "Wait, can you do that? With your mind power thingy?"

"I am glad you asked Mr. Saotome," the Professor smiled, pleased at the pigtailed youth's conclusion. "Jean and I here propose to do just that."

"Really? You can cure me of my ca—caaahh, goddamnit, argh! My problem?" Ranma asked hopefully.

"Yes and no," the Professor started. "Yes, we can erase that memory but in order to do that we will have to erase your entire experience from then all the way up till now selectively. That effectively will shred your mind and I doubt you want us to do that."

Ranma eyed bugged out at that. Shred his mind? For the first time, he realized just how powerful these telepaths were. How would he ever win if he get into a fight with any of them?

"However, we don't want that, and judging by your expression, you don't either," the Professor continued as he rolled closer to to the teen. "So what I am proposing is for Jean and I to place a block on your trigger, in a manner of speaking."

"Trigger? Block?"

"Yes, rather then see a feline and react negatively to it, that reaction of yours will simply be toned down, muted if you will. You will still feel the disgust and revulsion but you won't run or scream at the sight of them."

"Whoa, really? That'd be great!" Ranma nodded enthusiastically. He was going to be cured! Revulsion and disgust was fine with him! He just didn't want to freeze up when he encountered them.

"However, that block will not last forever, in fact it won't last long at all, maybe a year at the most," the Professor dashed the hopes of a quick fix away. "That is why it is imperative that you work with Jean here to get over your fear of cats, you see that flinch just now? That will be suppressed in the meantime."

"Can't you just, you know... reapply it?" Ranma asked, REALLY hoping for that quick fix. He didn't think he would ever get used to cats or be friendly with them.

"We could, but the procedure for us to do it is very complicated and taxing, taking hours. It's also very delicate. Then there is the fact that in our line of work, Jean or I could be killed at any given time. So it is really is in your best interest to work on your phobia and learn to conqueror it."

"Alright then, do it," Ranma said after a moment of silence. He should know that nothing worth it would ever be easy. Still didn't stop him from looking for loopholes though. "It's my best shot so I am going to give it my all."

"That's the spirit!" the Professor praised the boy. Ranma really was lucky he had some free time. Time that he would have used for some much needed RR, but like always his students came first.

"Okay, lay down on this table Ranma, this is going to take a while," Jean gently prodded the pigtailed boy.

Ranma did as he was instructed and looked directly up into the lights overhead. He couldn't help but think that maybe coming here wasn't so bad after all.

*** The Next Day ***

Ranma eyes fluttered openly softly and found that the lights in the room that he was in had been dimmed. Exhaling, he sat up gingerly and winced at the killer headache he got for his trouble. Looking at his hand, he closed his eyes and gathered his confidence before reopening it see a ball of yellow ki in his hand.

"Huh, still got it," Ranma whispered softly as he opened his hand and let his ki energy dissipate. It didn't seem any harder to gather the energy than before. With the fog over his head starting to clear, Ranma jumped off the bed he was in and started to reflexively limber up. The one thing that he had been concerned about over all was the two telepaths mucking up the procedure somehow and messing up his moves.

Having finished that phase of his work out, he pushed some of the equipment aside to create a nice little open space for him in the room. Without any fanfare he began a short slow kata to make sure he could still perform it correctly. His body, without him really needing to prompt it much, moved in perfect coordination with the kata. Grinning, he began to speed up while throwing in even more complex stances testing his agility, reflex and timing. Before long Ranma was shadow fighting, picturing an opponent that was better then him, always one step ahead of him, he was in mid punch when the door opened and in came the woman who introduced herself as Oreo or Oro...Storm with a Japanese looking woman in tow.

"Good Morning, Mr. Saotome," Storm greeted kindly before turning to her companion. "This is Elizabeth Braddock another professor here at our school. Her code name is Psylocke."

"Mr. Saotome," The purple hair woman, Elizabeth Braddock greeted politely. "Unfortunately, the procedure that the Jean and the Professor preformed on you left them quite drained. They are getting some well deserved rest at the moment, I will be the, heh, guide, attending to you in the mean time."

"Oh," Ranma said shortly. For some reason because he was with Jean most of the day yesterday he felt a lot more comfortable with her then these two women who were total strangers to him. "Right... anything I can do for them?"

The two women smiled at the obvious concern the boy had for their mentor and friend. It was Psylocke who stepped forward and motioned for Ranma to get right back on the bed. "Now, I was told by the Professor that you can sense when a telepath is in your mind, that you were sensitive to it. I just want to let you know I need to double check over what they did and to ensure that the block they put in place is steady."

Understanding dawned on Ranma face and he nodded. While he wasn't fond of it, he at least owed it to the two professors to behave in a grateful manner. "Alright, go ahead."

With a nod, Psylocke brushed up against Ranma mind and entered it. She carefully went down the path that the Professor and Jean had marked for her to the block in his mind. Testing it's integrity with a few forceful pushes she was satisfied that it would hold up to an any psychic attack for a while before breaking. She took a moment to admire the craftsmanship that was displayed before stepping back out.

"I must say, it's a masterful piece of work that's for sure."

"So everything is in order then?" Storm confirmed with her friend.

"Yep, Quite frankly I am surprised he's up and about so soon," Pyslocke said in an impressed tone. "I mean the mental fatigue alone for any normal humans would have kept them sedated for a few more days at least."

"Well, nothing gets me down for long," Ranma replied confidently and saw the two women raise their eyebrow in a judging way. It was then his stomach made itself known by grumbling loudly for nourishment.

"Well, I must say, hunger is a good sign. Unfortunately, the cafeteria won't be open for another hour and a half," Psylocke told a dejected looking Ranma. Switching gears, she broached the subject they had in common. "So, I've been told you are quite the martial artist."

"I'm the best!" Ranma confidently declared before sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck after none of the usual responses came in the form of being verbally shot down or physically attacked.

"Well, I am pretty good myself, one of the top fighters around here if I do say so myself," Psylocke boasted after all, after being trained by the best assassins in the world, she damn well better be. "Feel like a little spar before the cafeteria opens?"

Ranma was about to spout off his usual "I don't hit girls" excuse but then he noted the way she carried herself, though she looked like she belonged in a supermodel magazine more than she did here, and he had to admit, she carried herself like a fighter. Besides, it would be interesting to see how the top fighters around here measured up.

"You're on."

"Your funeral," Psylocke replied back in kind.

+++Danger Room+++

Ranma sweated a bit seeing Psylocke standing before him. It wasn't because he was intimidated, at least not in the usual way. But despite the opponent he faced, girls or guys, even the cheerleaders of Furinkan High, none had ever carried that seductive aura into battle. Sure, Psylocke was covered up and dressed, but the thigh high stockings with the leotard like outfit appeared to hug all of her curves in a very flattering manner. Even Kodachi in her gymnast outfit never looked so good.

"Like what you see Mr. Saotome?" Psylocke teased the pigtailed boy. Most of the women on the X-roster also wore skin tight outfits, but mainly for mobility. It was Emma Frost who eventually pointed out that it doubled as a distraction to their male opponents. Which left the X-women feeling that much more smug.

"Ah..." Ranma opened his mouth to denied but smartly enough this time decided to shut down any retort he might have, it would not do to insult the teachers of this school. "Right...umm shall we begin?"

Psylocke smirked and seductively limbered up before she launched a surprise attack. Quickly closing the the distance between them she unleashed a devastating combo at her opponent, aiming to disable quickly and efficiently. So it was much to her shock when Ranma, who had appeared off guard a moment ago, move inhumanly fast and blocked each and every one of her strikes at the point of impact.

"Oh, are we starting already?" Ranma asked innocently, as if nothing had happened. However, his eyes were dancing in amusement at her failed attempt at a surprise attack. It was the same look of amusement that usually pissed his opponents off, and Psylocke was no exception.

Narrowing her eyes, Psylocke felt the need to wipe the oh-so-innocent expression from the young boy's face as she sped up her attacks. Yet to her frustration, the pigtailed boy simply moved his head a hair here and a sliver there and avoided all of her attacks. Worst of all, that damnable innocent look hadn't left his face.

"You're one of their best fighters?" Ranma taunted gleefully, momentarily forgetting everything to live in the moment. "Really?"

Psylocke saw red and instead of trying to use pure martial arts to beat the boy, she fired a telekinetic bolt at him that knocked Ranma up against the wall. A moment later her eyes widened at what she had done, only to be surprised when the pigtailed boy rebounded against the wall and shot straight toward her. Quickly using her power, she disrupted his angle hoping to make him crash near her, only to be surprised when he instead of fumbling, he adjusted in mid air and landed gracefully in a crouch, his legs already extending in a leg sweep which caught her off guard.

Letting herself get hit, she fell and adjusted quickly to roll back onto her feet getting back into a defensive stance and was greeted by a casual looking Ranma with a smirk on his lips. At least that damnable "I'm so innocent" look was gone from his face.

Craning her neck from side to side, she no longer felt in a playful mood. She fought hardened assassins damn it, she'd be damned if she let a young boy show her up. "Ok, playtime's over."

"Bring it, teach," Ranma grinned as the purple-haired beauty rushed him using fast, concentrated strikes. Ranma had to admit the woman was good, very good. She even manage to tag him a few times due to his laxity, but now he decided to get serious too. Using his considerable speed, he started to deflect each and every one of her strikes, and created large gaps in her defense letting her know that had he wanted too, he could have tagged her in those spots, but he chose not to.

Psylocke grimaced at being pushed back by a damn teenage boy of all things. Even using her telekinetic bolts to give Ranma some extra bruises didn't deter him from absolutely dominating her in this fight of pure martial arts. Before she knew it, Ranma's expression changed and she felt several sharp blows to her stomach, making her double over, and a hard strike to her back forced her to land face first on the ground.

"Give it up Betsy, the kid's got ya beat."

"Logan?" Psylocke said looking at her toughest teammate. She then turned to see Ranma stretching out his hand to help her up.

"I went to check up on you guys, but imagine my surprise when I saw you taking Jeanie's patient out to the danger room of all places. What do you think Jeanie would do to you if she found out you were about to go serious on the kid?"

Psylocke's face paled at the thought of an angry Jean Grey. Gulping sharply she felt grateful to Logan who proceeded to look smug. "Watch it mister, I might not be able to touch him but I have no problem making you dance around in a ballerina outfit."

That made Logan choke on his cigar that he was inhaling at the thought of being subject to such humiliation. Damn telepaths. Giving his teammate a smart salute, Logan made his way to the impressive young boy.

"Surprised you're up and about kid, you feeling alright?"

"Not bad at all, I don't feel any different," Ranma replied honestly.

"Well, you hungry?" Logan asked the boy, who enthusiastically nodded. "Come on breakfast is about to be served, but first, here a change of clothes and you can take a shower behind that wall over there. You smelling pretty ripe kid."

"Ah... thanks," Ranma said in half embarrassment, it wasn't his fault he couldn't take a bath. seeing as how he'd been examined and prodded for almost two days now. After a quick fifteen minute shower, he walked out in what appeared to be loose fitting slacks and a gray T-shirt with an "X" over the heart side.

"Good, you're all cleaned up," Wolverine said as he started walking and was satisfied when Ranma followed him a moment later. Looking over at the kid he had to admit, the boy was skilled, but had Betsy wanted too, she could have ended the entire fight before it actually began.

"So...Mr. Wolverine, how can I tell if whatever the Professor and Jean did worked for me?" Ranma asked suddenly.

"We won't know until you actually see a cat up close and personal," Wolverine replied before frowning. "And drop the Mister. Just call me Wolverine."

Suddenly Ranma stopped in his track causing Wolverine to also stop. "Can you say that again?"

"What? Drop the Mister and just call me Wolverine?"

"No, before that, about the cat," Ranma said and then blinked in surprise. "Cat. Cat. Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Cat. Cat. Cat."

"You alright kid?" Wolverine asked, looking at the boy strangely.

"Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Kitty cat. Cat Girl, Cat woman, cat, cat, tiger, lions. Big Cat!" Ranma shouted in amazement. He could say the words now, there was something that lingered in the back of his mind that said he should be scared but he wasn't. It was as if the fear factor was turned completely down.

"Oh so looked like it worked after all," Wolverine grunted before continuing to walk toward the elevator. As the two walked inside Wolverine put out his cigar on his arms and looked at the boy still talking to himself. "Kid, I gotta warn you, you didn't make yourself any friends when ya freaked out over Feral."

"Cat. Cat. Huh? Feral? Oh you mean that girl you said was supposed to be my guide?" Ranma asked suddenly it was coming back to him. He still didn't remember meeting the girl but he realized he must have.

"Well, she's not anymore, but no one else wanted to take her spot either." Wolverine grimaced. Ugh, Teen drama, how he hated that shit.

"I guess I'll figure my way around on my own, no biggie," Ranma said easily.

"Look, kid, just... watch your back okay? We might have understood why you freaked out but we kept it to ourselves out of respect to you. I am not sure if you wanted everyone to know about your fear of cats but it is your choice to make."

"Oh, thank you," Ranma replied honestly. It was true, he didn't want everyone to know about his issue with cats. He'd rather be hated. He still had his pride after all. Still, he would find the girl and apologize, honor demanded no less. The ding of the elevator let them know that they were at their destination, and when it opened he greeted to a pretty amazing sight.

A veritable mass of students with text books in hand walked back and forth in the elegantly designed hallways. Here and there he could see teachers of all sorts ushering students around or stopping little spats that had gotten out of control. Not only was there a large variation of their ages, but their looks varied too. There was a girl with Dragonfly wings on her back flying above the mass of students, there was a lizard looking boy, a toad looking boy, even a boy that look like he had a lot of teeth made for eating meat who was talking to a big stocky boy that look more like a monster from the Frankenstein novel than anything else. Coming down from the stairway was a girl that was constantly changing colors. While a few more fur-cover girls descended from the stairs, not like a cat, but more like bear fur.

"Welcome to the Xavier School for Higher Learning," Wolverine grinned as he walked out of the elevator.

"Morning Professor Logan!" A cadre of girls greeted behind giggles before rushing off.

"Morning professor!" A boy with riding on skate board rushed passed the annoyed man.

"No skating in the halls EVANS!" Wolverine bellowed after the boy. No sooner as he turned around was another girl that appeared to be timid and shy. "Bella, what is it this time?"

"Umm professor, you said you want us to do a project about space so I was thinking of doing a report on the Shiar Empire but the books on that has been checked out and it's overdue and I don't know who has it and if I don't have this book then I can't finish the report and then you'll flunk me and then I'll have to get an F and if I get an F-"

Ranma watched in fascination as the girl before a baleful Wolverine rattle on and on almost hyperventilating all the while before the man finally exasperatedly put his hand on her shoulder and shook her.

"I'll find who took the book and have them return it to the library, now get to class!"

"Thank you Professor Wolverine sir!" the girl said excitedly and ran off stumbling and bumbling through the hall ways and into other students.

Ranma left a few second pass for Wolverine to compose himself before looking at his chaperone with a raised eyebrow. "And what's her mutant power? Talking fast?"

"That girl creates nuclear bomb like energy blasts whenever she's in distress," Wolverine said rubbing his oncoming headache. "She's in distress a lot."

Ranma opened his mouth to comment but decided to shut it.

"Look, Saotome, the cafeteria is down that way where the other students are heading, just help yourself to anything you like," Wolverine pointed at the students heading in a one direction. "I'll be back later to get you for Jeanie."

"Right," Ranma said as Wolverine turned on his heel and left him. He could have sworn he heard the hairy man mumbling something about finding a book or else a new three-mile island would be created.

Shrugging, he made his way to the cafeteria with the rest of the students and entered a large open expansive place. At the counter he could see some older women serving food from a food buffet, and a longer line of students in the area.

Grabbing a tray from nearby he got in line like everyone else, as there didn't seem to be any real brawl going on for food. Keeping his eyes out, he searched for Akane and Ryoga. A moment later, he caught sight of them among a throng of students at a table that was filled to capacity. As if by some unseen signal, Akane looked up and made eye contact with him, but only for a moment. Her eyes, which had been filled with joy a moment ago seem muted when she looked at him. There were hints of sadness and traces of disappointment in her look. After that she returned to her meals and the girls around her chatting happily.

"What the hell was that all about?" Ranma asked in a confused voice but was shoved from behind. Turning around he found a large boy that looked like he had muscle to spare glaring at him. "What?"

"Move it dude, You're holding up the line," The big burly boy answered before pointing the to gap that had been left open by Ranma's momentary lapse.

"Ah sorry," Ranma replied as he too realized that breakfast, like lunch and dinner, was the most important meal of the day. He quickly closed the gap and saw the lunch lady working at an amazingly quick pace filling trays as soon as they hit the counter. Pretty soon it was his turn.

"What do ya want?" The cafeteria server asked in a hoarse voice as if she had been smoking.

Looking at the food spread, Ranma pointed out a several eggs, bacon, toast, french toast, and sausage patties.

"That's it?"

Ranma blinked at the woman who did not even care how much he had requested for and so decided to push his luck and asked for more.

"That's it?" The Breakfast Server asked in an impatient tone.

Ranma was a bit amazed that people served him this much food without even making him justify it. "Uh, I guess, Than-"

"Next!"

"Alright, my turn!" The burly guy behind him said excitedly and proceeded to order everything Ranma had, multiplied by three.

Going down the line he grabbed a few juices and made his way to a table. It was then he sensed something was amidst as he could swear that a lot of the seated older students were sneaking glanced at him while whispering among themselves.

Ignoring it, he made his way to Akane's table only find her gone along with Ryoga but instead was filled with a new group of students. He guessed Akane had finished eating. Spotting an available space near him he made to sit down only to have something odd happen when he did so. The moment he sat down, the rest of the students, some blonde girls, a red-haired boy, and three unknown species he could not identify stood up and walked away from that table to a different one.

Shrugging, he proceeded to eat his food with gusto when his sense warned him of an impending attack. Titling his head to a side he saw a half eaten apple sail by. Looking behind him, he saw several groups of well-built boys that were giggling and laughing.

"Right." Ranma may be dense but he wasn't stupid. He figured this might be retaliation for what he did to that girl yesterday or his reaction to her. He sighed as he knew that this was probably not the end.

He was right, several more food items came flying at him, each of them he dodged with ease. It was the last one that made a mess of things as it was several open containers of milk, causing it to splash all over his table. Pinching the bridge of his nose he exhaled and calmed himself from retaliating. It would not do to thank the professors by kicking their students' asses.

"So, you're the Flatscan that made Sybil cry huh?"

Sighing Ranma put down his Bacon Toast burger that he had made and turned around to see a group of boys that were average in build looking down at him. "Flatscan? What does that even mean?"

One of the boys, normal looking by all accounts, changed his fingers into knives and scratched his chin with them. "It means, normals that are so weak that don't even register on our radar." Knife-hand taunted.

"Not much of an insult," Ranma commented dryly before being grabbed by the collar of his shirt by the leader of the pack. "Ohhh, I'm so scared."

"You should be, after what you did to Sybil, I am going to make sure you Flatscans can never hurt us again," The leader threatened.

Now this was familiar territory for Ranma as he grinned even wider in response. "Go ahead and give it your best shot. I'll give you a handicap, along with five on one, I'll even let you take the first punch."

Angry at Ranma's response, the boy pulled his hand back and charged it with a weird looking energy.

"Tobias!" Wolverine voice rang out making the boy and his friend freeze in fear. "Detention with me for the rest of the week!"

"You got lucky Flatscan," Tobias, growled softly to Ranma before heading toward Wolverine with a defeated demeanor.

Ignoring Wolverine chewing out of the boys, Ranma continued to finish off the rest of his meal, despite the fact that there were low murmurings directed toward him.

"You saw how he looked at Toby? Didn't even bat an eye, treated them like dirt."

"..no surprise, he is a normal human and they always look down on mutants."

"I wish Toby could have cleaned his clock, too bad Wolverine got here before it got good..."

"...typical arrogant Homo Sapien..."

"Back to your meals, or do you all want detention too?" Wolverine growled at the rest of the cafeteria before looking over at Ranma.

"Wolverine," Ranma greeted as he polished off the last of his meal. "Thanks for breakfast."

"That's all you got? Thought you'd eat more then that," Wolverine said after having seen what Ranma ate.

"I was being polite," Ranma replied with a grin. Suddenly Wolverine shoved a card into his face.

"What's this?"

"Your classes, you did come here on a scholarship you know, time for you to learn," Wolverine smirked.

"I don't have any mater... oh," Ranma trailed off as Wolverine tossed him a backpack with supplies in it.

"I'll take you to your first class, after that you can ask your teachers for directions to your next one," Wolverine explained before looking a bit put upon. "Normally a student would be helping you handle all of this crap but..."

"Yeah, I scared her off," Ranma sighed. "It's all good, I'll figure it out. I traveled on the road for ten years after all, this'll be a piece of cake!"

+++ After First Period+++

"Okay, this might not be a piece of cake after all," Ranma muttered to himself after their teacher literally flew out of the room and rocketed off. Something about an X-Force emergency. Any normal person might be inclined to asked their classmate to help and any normal person might have received such help. Unfortunately, he could sense the hostility from the class compromised mainly of students as old as himself.

Yeah, he's not going to be getting any help from there.

"Let's see, next class is with Chemistry 2," Ranma mutters and walked out into the hallway only to spot Akane coming toward his class room, in tow was a girl with a brown hair and a streak of white through it. "Akane!"

Apparently his happiness at seeing a familiar face startled the girl as she started to look embarrassed. "R-ranma."

"Akane," Ranma grinned. "So we're not in the same class?"

"Ah, I don't think so," Akane replied while refusing to meet Ranma's eyes. "Ryoga's schedule is different from mine too."

"Oh, was wondering where rocks for brains went," Ranma smirked at his own clever joke. However that was when he felt the air change around him and looked at an angry Akane. "What?"

"I knew it, I knew you were racist," Akane accused Ranma openly.

"What?!" Ranma said in shocked incredulity.

"They told me how you insulted your guide and yesterday, I didn't want to believe it but the more I reflect on your attitude for as long as I known you, the more it made sense. On some level, you must have sensed that Ryoga and I were different and tried to shame us every single chance you got!"

"What?!" Ranma half shouted again.

"Bacon breath, rocks for brain, and other mean things you said to Ryoga, not to mention how you call me names and made fun of my looks!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Time out," Ranma demanded making a 'T' gesture. "We argue all the time, you call me names too! And as for Ryoga, I can't help it if he's as dumb ass. Him being a mutant does not change that fact!"

"See, there you go again with the name calling!" Akane raised her voice louder she calmed down. "Look Ranma, I thought I knew you but clearly you have issues you need to work out, just... just don't talk to me at school."

With those final parting words Akane brushed passed a stunned Ranma. It was the sound of the bell ringing that snapped him out of his stupor as he listlessly made his way around the school. Unlike a Japanese school which is all neat and orderly, the American ones had different buildings for different studies. He still couldn't believe that Akane would label him a racist. She and Ryoga weren't the only ones, they all traded insult with one another, no one was blameless.

"This is bullshit," Ranma grumbled after walking outside of the central building and out in the yard. Where the hell could he find the chemistry building! "Fuck!"

"Whoa language!"

Looking up Ranma saw a woman that looked like a younger version of Jean Grey, only this girl cut her hair shorter. "Jean?"

"Rachael actually," Rachael said with a rueful smile. "Don't worry, I get that a lot, we are of the same blood after all."

"Oh? You're her sister," Ranma realized.

"Ah... no, Daughter actually," Rachael corrected, before after a moment of deep thought, corrected herself again. "Well... sorta. It's complicated."

"How can you be her..." Ranma said looking at the young woman before him before whispering to himself. "She doesn't even look that old... she must age well."

"No, it's not like that," Rachael suddenly exclaimed. "Argh, anyway, you must be new, I'm Rachael Grey, and you are?"

"Err... Ranma, Ranma Saotome," Ranma introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you Ranma," Rachael greeted kindly. "Now why are you out here and not in class?"

Ranma sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and chuckled in embarrassment. "I...ah... couldn't find my class..."

"Where's your guide?" Rachael asked as she sat down next to the cute pigtailed boy. Too young for her of course but give him a few years and maybe...

"Ha hah, yeah my guide..." Ranma laughed nervously. "I kinda scared her off my first day here..."

"You don't seem like such a scary guy, I mean there are mutations out there that make you scary but you don't seem so bad, normal actually," Rachael said as she assessed Ranma outward appearance. Not all mutants were lucky enough that could keep their human form so they could blend in with regular homo sapien society.

Ranma normally would keep things to himself, but the whole fight with Akane had left him feel antsy. Not to mention the fights that he knew were going to be coming pretty soon. Then of course there was Rachael who looked so much like her mother, with the same easy going attitude that made Ranma just spill his frustration at the stupidity of it all for her ears.

"Ah, this must be what they call 'High School Rules'," Rachael marveled. Rachael did not have a normal childhood, while her parents were indeed Scott Summers and Jean Grey, they were a Scott Summers and Jean Grey from another reality in a dystopian future. School was the last thing on her mind then when people were fighting for their lives.

"Gee, glad you can find the crap I'm going through so interesting," Ranma said half-sarcastically before sighing. "Sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Nah, it's okay, I suffered ruder manners before," Rachael waved it off. "Well looks like you missed second period, guess you gotta aim for third then?"

"Yeah, can you tell me where the History building is?" Ranma asked the pretty redhead.

"Oh that's back inside the main building but on the westwing," Rachael pointed out and looked at the name on the card. "Ohh looks like you have Caliban as your teacher instead of Logan."

"I see, well thanks, you're nice, like your mom," Ranma said honestly only to be confused by the sudden giggling fits his companion broke into.

"Ranma, promise me you will never use that line to pick up girls," Rachael giggled. "It won't work!"

"Right..." Ranma sighed and wonder if perhaps he would survive this mad house.

Walking back into the building he made it just in time as the bell rung. Getting to the center of the hall way he saw Akane walked out of her class room, took one look at him and turned away. Gritting his teeth at the slight, he decided right there and then to just not give a fuck anymore. He'll do his own thing rather then try and reason with Akane and if their dads didn't like that they could kiss his ass.

He made it just in time to see a big man in blue glaring at all the students present. The man in blue attention shifted and looked at the new comer

"And you are?"

"Ranma, Ranma Saotome," Ranma introduced himself and handed the blue man his class schedule.

"Interesting... You must be the mutant, that's not a mutant, they were talking about at the meeting," The blue man commented.

"Err really? How can you tell?" Ranma asked curiously.

"Caliban has a special abilities that let Caliban track any mutant up to 25 miles. You do not register on Caliban senses at all, not as a mutant anyway."

"Well, I sure as hell wished they would have gotten you to tell them that instead sticking a needle in my arms and taking my damn blood," Ranma grumbled darkly.

"Hah! Caliban senses are not as reliable as pure science they say, well Caliban tell you what, Caliban knows!" The mutant in question declared solemnly.

Unknowingly behind him, the students were looking at the pig-tailed boy as if he's crazy. Everyone know that Caliban was dangerous, having been once a horseman for Apocalypse. Now, he get agitated and easily anger and students usually give him a wide berth, yet here was the non-mutant chatting it up with Caliban fearlessly.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go take a seat now," Ranma said and did not know if this room assigned seats like his last one. "Err where should I sit?"

"Since Caliban like you because unlike the other yellow bellies in this class, you did not show an ounce of fear in Caliban presence you can sit next that the pretty one, Celeste," Caliban sand pointing at a pretty blonde with a short-cropped hair cut done in a stylish way.

"Umm, I object to that seating arrangement!" Celeste Cuckoo mildly protested.

"Me too!" A handsome boy across the room said, hoping that this would be the time he could impress the blonde.

"Yeah me too!" A geeky nerdish looking boy with special-made glasses also decided that he would be a brave man today.

"Yeah me too!" A pretty brunette also protested.

That kind of stop the class as they looked at the girl in mild shock.

"Um, no, I don't swing that way," Celeste replied quickly.

"Caliban don't give a rats ass what you want!" Caliban roared quickly silencing his class room. Turning to look at the unfazed pigtailed boy he grinned. "Do you care where you sit?"

"Not really no," Ranma replied easily.

"Good," Caliburn smiled evilly and pointed next to the blonde desk.

Ranma look around and knew that this class was going to be a hostile one to him judging from the dirty looks he received. Well, fuck them too.

"Alright now, today Caliban class will learn about the history of the biggest asshole in the world, Apocal-"

An audible groan could be heard from the students as they learned what the lesson would be.

"Apocalypse again? I know he hates the guy, but sheesh!"

"Shut up and pay attention!" Caliban shouted at the student who spoke up, making him quake in fear before returning to his notebooks.

It was mid way through the lesson that Ranma felt a weird sensation brushing up against his thoughts as if trying to read it as he learned more about the this super mutant. He angrily railed against the entity and heard the girl next to him gasped softly in surprise.

Immediately turning to her Ranma glared at her. "Stay. The. Hell. Out. Of. My. HEAD!"

"You- You shouldn't be able to feel that," Celeste said in genuine surprise.

"Well surprise, I did, now stay out or I'll make you stay out," Ranma whispered softly.

The two stared at one another as if ascertaining each other before they mutually backed off. At least Ranma though so, until he felt the beginning of an the invasion on his mind. Faster then anyone could see, Ranma hand shot out out toward Celeste.

"And that is why he is the biggest asshole on Ea- What the! Sleeping in Caliban class Ms. Celeste? One Week Detention!"

Ranma innocently hummed a tune when the bell rung and got ready for his next class, P.E.

TBC...

AN: Another chapter down! So I finally decided to go with 70/25/5 formula for Serious/Comedy/Crack. Instead of going with the fawning type of Ranma I decided to take a different path. Some might like it some might not.

Keep in mind this is highschool, the rumor mill always dilute the information and not all the facts is ever shown and of course now that they ARE mutants and have been. They are extra sensitive, after all, it's a life changing event.

As for the mutants, Sybil I made up.

I do want my reader that while it might seem unfair. think of it this way, most of these mutants lost their home when they gain their power. Friends turned against them and now here is a human among them. So yes there are reverse racism going on but the Xavier institute try to curb that, Genoshian use it freely.

As always C+C Welcome, Reviews always appreciate.


	3. Orientation: Part Two

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

Special thanks to The big Cheese and Death for editing this chapter! Enjoy!

Homo Superior

Orientation: Part Two

**** Xavier Institute for Higher Learning ***

Ranma took in the gym class that was taking place outdoors. Looking up, he saw the clear blue sky without a stormy cloud to be seen for miles. That was fine by him.

"Alright then, boys on one side girls on the other." Ororo Munroe, Codename: Storm nodded as the boys and girls separated into two sides. "Ok get changed, today, we will do Wolverine Scenario 3, which means lots of rope climbing, pulls ups, and for the fliers, running away from the stinger robots."

Groans immediately rose from the rest of the class.

"Awww man!"

"Not the stinger robots!"

"Kill me now!"

"No fair Professor!"

"Shut it!" A large burly guy bellowed from next to Storm. "After you're done changing, fliers with Storm. Grounders, you're with me!"

Ranma took a good look at the mutant in command, and was curious as to how it was possible for him to walk when most of his muscle mass was in his torso. Taking in the group around him, he noticed he got dirty looks from some of the boys, while the others were whispering softly amongst themselves whilst looking in his direction. Shrugging, he made to go to the boys' locker room, but a comically large muscular arm barred his way.

"Not you new guy." the large man said as he singled Ranma out.

"Me?" Ranma asked, pointing to himself.

"Yeah, got special orders for you." the big man answered. "You get changed over there in the private sector for our special-needs students."

He pointed to a section further back, where different types of people were walking in, both male and female. Some of them looked odd, with one guy even looking like his form was constantly changing, as if unable to keep a real shape.

"Hey, what do you mean by special-needs!?" Ranma raised his voice a bit, somewhat offended. Were they trying to say he's handicapped?

"Ah shucks, I didn't mean to say it like that... you turn into a girl with cold water, right? I mean, that's what Storm told me," the big man pointed out. At seeing Ranma nod, he continued. "Well, a few of the boys have power over water, and wouldn't be adverse to seeing a pretty little redhead naked, you know? Boys being boys and all."

"Oh." Ranma grasped what the big man was trying to say. "... I see."

"And what with the incident with Feral and all, we were told to keep an eye out for you. They're good kids, they just have an "us" against "them" mentality, hopefully it'll all blow over soon!" the big guy smiled in a friendly manner.

"Bah, I ain't worried about them." Ranma waved off the big guy's concern, but accepted the treatment he was being given. Thought he did agree, he wouldn't put it past those that were trying to restore Feral's honor trying to humiliate him in some way.

"Yeah, heard you were a tough guy, like me I suppose." The big man thumbed his chest with a grin, then looked down at Ranma and extended his hand. "Name's Guido, but everyone calls me Strong Guy."

Ranma grinned back at the big guy's, or rather, Strong Guy's attitude and returned it with a hand shake of his own. "Nice to meet you, name's Ranma Saotome, just call me Ranma."

"Well, I think I kept you long enough, go get changed." Strong guy shooed the pig tailed boy away.

Walking toward his locker room, he was passed by a girl that looked as if she was completely made out of mist. She had long blackish hair with a pixie like face, however, her body seem to look fuzzy one second then solid the next, as if it was also in a state of flux. Which, if she was made out of mist, made sense to Ranma. Of course, that didn't change the fact that her feet seemed to be missing, cutting off at the ankles. She must be floating somehow, he deduced. The girl saw him and blinked with an emotionless face. He didn't see any recognition in her eyes, and simply nodded to her in greeting. To his surprise, the girl returned the gesture and pointed at a room behind her.

"Free."

"Ah, thanks." Ranma called after her, but the girl had floated away. It wasn't until he was half way changing into what look like casual fatigue wear that he questioned how mist could wear gym clothes.

By the time he made his way back out, he saw an organized file of girls chatting among themselves on one side while a disorganized pile of boys had huddled up on another. As with all high school hierarchy, the strongest and most popular were in the center, while the nerds, geeks, and losers were on the outside. Weaker of the herd and all. Off to one side, Ranma spotted the loners who didn't fall in either category.

"Alright fliers, you're all with Storm, the rest of you are with me." Strong Guy said as he turned his back and started to march toward an open field.

To Ranma's surprise, at least a third of the group floated up after Storm. Most had wings, but some didn't, which was interesting to him. He couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at that ability, after all, the Saotome school specialized in mid-air combat. Still, he dutifully followed after Strong Guy with the rest of the grounders.

"Alright then for those of you who haven't done it yet, Wolverine scenario three is simple, you are free to use your powers to absorb, evade, block, or even attack the little cannons that will spring up along this obstacle course." Strong Guy pointed to a built up obstacle course. "It's time to put all of those powers of yours into practice! Remember, anybody should be able to run through the course at least once. The further you get, the higher you will be graded."

"But teach! I'm a strong type, how the hell am I going to evade the fast stringers?" A big guy with crystalline skin protested with a raised hand.

"Amateurs." Strong Guy muttered to himself as he shook his head at the lot of them. "Look at me, I'm a strong type, I'm not fast and nimble! Let me show you how it's done."

Without much fanfare, the teacher ran through the obstacle course and was immediately attacked by little drones on the ground. Instead of trying to avoid it, he stood in his place and took the damage. "Being strong means I can take a few more hits than usual!"

Next, he got to the spike part on the ground where you're supposed to traverse with hanging echo rings, the kind usually seen used by gymnastic practitioners. "Now, most of you agile types can simply grab this and be across in a flash, but for me, I'll break the rope, so I'll have to improvise!"

Without much warning, he ripped a tree from the nearby area and placed it over the spikes, simply walking over the area. On and on he went through each obstacle and hurdle, some he powered through, others he used his strength to work around. By the end of it all, while looking slightly ruffled up, he had completed the course.

"Any other questions?" Strong Guy asked as he looked at the now bashful looking crystalline teen in the back.

"I got one teach!" a cocky voice said from in the center as a suave looking guy made his way through the throngs of boys. "How's the normie going to get through this in one piece?"

At the comment, a large group of the boys laughed, most of them knowing exactly who he was referring to.

"Yeah, you gonna give us a bell curve on our score if the normie doesn't make it?"

Another ring of laughter echo out from the boys and girls.

"Shut it!" Strong Guy ordered before putting the whistle to his lips and made to blow down on it.

"Wait!" a trio of girl voices sounded out.

Turning around, the assembled grounders saw the Three-in-One Cuckoo sisters running up to the group quickly.

Strong Guy, however, was not amused and put his hands on his hips, looking down at the girls. "You girls have a good reason why you were late for my class?"

"We had to get Celeste from class," Irma and Phoebe said in unison. While Celeste head look down at the ground.

"And why were you late for my class, Ms. Celeste?" Strong Guy folded his arm and focused on the third sister.

"I was held back in class by Mr. Caliban for... disciplinary reasons," Celeste mumbled after shooting Ranma a dirty look.

"Hmm, well if Caliban held you back, I can't fault you for it," Strong Guy reasoned before he allowed the girls to join the class.

While some looked confused as to why Ranma knew why said girl was late, he shrugged at the death glare the blond was giving him, feeling no intruding presence in his mind. Guess she learned her lesson. Looking at the area before him he had to admit, as far as training goes, this obstacle course wasn't all that bad. It was missing a few alligators and maybe a couple of poisonous snakes to really bring out one's sense of danger, but it'd do.

"Alright then," Strong Guy placed the whistle on his lips and blew on it. "Begin!"

At the sound of the whistle, the throng of students surged forward, intending to tackle this Wolverine sanctioned obstacle course with everything they had. Three minutes later, there were cries of pain and crying in general from the student body.

Traveling almost effortlessly, and at a steady pace, was the normie. He expertly climbed the echo bars across the spike lace ground. Now had that been all, it wouldn't have been too far-fetched for him to do it, but what was odd was the fact that six stinger drones, little mouse-sized flying devices, were firing little electrical shock beams at the boy, only to miss him by mere inches each time.

"Bu-Bullshit!" The now dishevel suave guy from earlier protested, pointing at the supposedly normal human. "Those drones are malfunctioning!"

"Gotta be man!" Another voice chimed in.

"I ain't gonna lose to no normal!" The suave guy shouted as he used his power of concussive force to shoot himself off the ground and grip the rings.

No sooner had the guy got a handle then six more drones flew out and started to fire at him.

"Ow! Gah! Damn it!" The suave guy raised his hand to try and shield himself before he attempted to return fire at one of the drone, which dodged his energy attack and resumed attacking him, resulting in him losing his grip, no longer able to withstand the pain. "Noooo!"

Ranma turned around slightly and saw the twentieth person fall in to the spike pit. To his disappointment, the pit was not filled real spikes, but instead some kind of video illusion. How was that supposed to motivate the students? Finally making it through the half mile stretch with ease, he hopped down and looked ahead. There was an empty sand field littered with bodies. Apparently the sand was booby trapped with soft mines. Not explosive, judging by the bodies on the ground, it seemed to be something that stunned them.

Picking up a few dozen pebbles, he looked at where the bodies were scattered and mapped a safe path half way through. Of course, having taken his time, there were people that made it past that previous obstacle and were now stuck here. He saw a dark skinned boy with war paint on his face run at break neck speed from behind him.

"Ohhhh!" The Boy of Native American descent roared in vigor as he jumped high into the air as he got to the edge and clapped his hands at the ground. Immediately, a gust wind of shot into the ground, making a small indent, but at the same time propelling the boy higher up, enough so that he could flip forward and do it again, crossing the sand area safely.

Ranma had to admit, that was clever of the boy and he wasn't the only one. While there were people on the ground, there were people who appeared to be stuck half way through the area. He couldn't help but grin that among them were the blond triplets, and one of the girls who'd tried to read his mind without permission.

Casually, he tossed a pebble at the ground a few feet in front of him, and watched it explode upward. Grinning, he jumped to the area where the mine was triggered with ease.

"What the?! That's bullshit and cheating!" Celeste protested, pointing at him.

"I don't see myself getting disqualified do you?" Ranma needled before he tossed another pebble several yards forward. This time there was no explosion. Jumping lightly to the area, he landed safe and sound. The other mutants, who had no such projectile powers, copied his example as they too picked up rocks and pebbles to make their way through the mind field.

"Hi."

Ranma turned around to see the mist girl floating effortlessly passed him while giving him a wave. "Aren't you supposed to be with the flyers?" He pointed at the sky where a vicious game of tag was going on.

"Floater." She answered as if that explained everything in her monotone voice. "Bye."

With that, the girl floated over the minefield and into a safer haven.

_'Wait, you can't just leave us here! Aren't you a gentlemen, there are girls in distress here!'_

The voice he recognize right away as the blond girl, Celeste. However, he heard it too clearly and the tingling in his head let him know that she probably had projected her thoughts into his head. Turning around quickly, he flicked a pebble right at the girl forehead eliciting a pained yelp.

"Ow!"

"Good!" Ranma declared. "I told you to stay out of my head didn't I?"

Holding another pebble menacingly, he dared any of the three sisters to try and invade his mind again. The two sisters next to Celeste, however, had more sense than to try and taunt the boy after a telepathic conversation.

After seeing the sisters turn their attention elsewhere, Ranma quickly made his way through the obstacle area with little incident. Turning back, he saw the three sisters looking worriedly around, along with the other students stuck midway through. Looking down, he saw that he still had a good few dozen pebbles left. Quickly, he struck a straight path through, causing explosion where some landed and nothing on others.

The sisters and other students now looked at a single clear path through in surprise. For those stuck, they could just backtrack through the fallen bodies and make their way across.

Ranma left before some of them even thought to thank him. Already, he had made his way through several more sections of the obstacle course and was at the last one. It was a clear football field length to the goal line. The field itself appeared to be littered with a multitude of paint colorings, the reason for this were the two dozen turrets mounted on either side of the field. Each of them, based on their movement, appeared to only have a forty five degree forward firing angle. However, each turret also had a big fat bulls-eye on its body. The objective of the game seemed simple enough, hit the bulls-eye, disable the target, or run through the field.

On the table next to him, he saw a variety of 'weapons', and even calling them weapons was too generous of a term. There was a gun that could shoot little B.B pellets, some throwing darts, and a large block of concrete that look too heavy for normal people to carry which could double as a large shield. He assumed that the last object was for the strength type. He also assumed the people with greater agility would just weave their way through the attacks. Picking up a small rock nearby, Ranma gently pitch it into the field of fire and watch for the reaction time. Satisfied as he watched the now painted stone drop on the grass, Ranma took a few dozen throwing darts from the table.

Grinning cockily, Ranma stepped onto the field and saw the turret on either side fade from view. Immediately, there were balls of wet paint fired in his direction. Jogging, Ranma ducked under the first paint ball and threw the dart in the direction the attack. The dart struck true and revealed a deactivated turret. Smiling, he continued flinging the darts and hitting the targets. He didn't hit all of them, just the ones he deemed necessary, and within seconds, was on the other side of the field, untouched and with at least a dozen darts remaining in his arsenal.

Walking past the victors of the obstacle course, some that didn't look like they had got through unscathed, Ranma put the remaining darts on a nearby table. Turning around, he noticed that among those there with him was a black boy with bone protruding from his body, a girl with red hair that seemed to be normal enough, the mist like girl, and an animal girl.

'Animal girl?' Ranma thought as he looked at the girl. Cat ears? Check, Cat tail? Check. Fur on her outside? Check. Not freaking out? Check! He was cured! Okay time for him to man up and apologize. Drawing himself to his full height, he walked toward the cat girl and tapped her on her shoulder.

Apparently his action startled her as she was taken aback upon seeing him. "Wh-what do you want?" the girl asked warily.

Bowing his head across his body in the Japanese sign of atonement, he uttered a phrase he rarely said. "I'm sorry for the other day. I had some personal issue but I didn't mean to cause you any grief, I humbly ask for your forgiveness."

There, he said it! Now, he'd be in the clear even if she decided to hold a grudge against him. He had bowed his head and apologized.

"Wh- what are you talking about?"

Ranma blinked as he straightened back up. "Ummm, I'm apologizing for being rude to you yesterday?" He replied in confusion, his confusion was mirrored by the cat girl own.

"I never met you yesterday," The cat girl started before her eyes widen and then narrowed dangerously. "Why did you think you met me yesterday?"

"Umm... because you did?" Ranma said suddenly aware of the crowd gathering around him murmuring in a low voice.

"So, all feline types look the same to you. Is that it?" The girl said in a dangerous tone.

"Huh? There's more than one?" Ranma asked as he looked at the girl. She was a cat girl, and the only one he seen so far, it gotta be her. Right?

"Just for your information, I have BLACK fur, Sybil fur is GOLD, but yeah, we're completely alike!" The black furred cat girl looked even more offended if possible now.

Ranma closed his eyes and sighed. There was only one word that could describe the huge mistake he just made.

"Fuck."

+++ Lunch Time+++

"That's the guy that thinks all muties look the same right?"

"Yeah, how can he mix up Veronica with Sybil I'll never know, I mean they're two different colors!"

"I always though the Japanese nowadays were more open minded too."

"I wish somebody would kick his ass."

Sighing, Ranma looked down at his tray that was piled on with food and continued to eat it despite the whispered. How was he supposed to know? He hardly remembered the girl and well she fit the description of cat girl to him. Then of course he hadn't seen any other cat girls around so he had assumed that was the one.

Ah well, at least now he know the cat girl he was looking for had golden fur on her.

"Wassup, mind if I sit here?"

Looking up Ranma saw a black boy with blond hair looking at him as if for permission. "Go ahead, you'd be my only guest," he said waving to the empty table.

"Yeah eating lunch alone is no fun, ya know?" The boy said before grinning. "The name's Evan, but people around here call me Spyke."

As if to show Ranma how he got his name, he lifted his arm to show a sharp bone jutting out from his forearm.

"Neat," Ranma commented politely before he continued to eat. However, Evan grinned widely as he continued to look at Ranma.

"Auntie Ro was right, you're no human supremacist. My power usually freak people out," Evan said easily before looking at Ranma seriously. "She also said the whole ordeal with Feral was a major misunderstanding, but it was not her place to tell me why."

Ranma grunted noncommittally still on his guard for an attack soon. He knew it was coming just not from where.

Evan propped open a gallon jug of milk and chugged it down in front of Ranma's. "Growing boy and all of that, ya know?" He said as he raised the gallon of milk in a toasting gesture.

Humoring the boy, Ranma took his own orange juice this time and returned the gesture and the two chugged down on their respective drink.

"Ah, that hits the spot!" Evan stated grandly as he start to chow down vigorously on his food.

The murmur appeared to lower with the appearance of Evan as the two boy continued to eat.

"Mind?" A monotone piped up from behind Ranma.

Turning around he had to blink at seeing mist girl here looking in askance at Ranma's table. "Err, help yourself?"

"Oh you became friends with Myst? Good job!" Evan grinned as he pat Ranma on the back.

'So her name really was Myst after all?' Ranma wanted to ask but refrained. He'd fucked up enough times already.

Ranma was perfectly fine with eating in silence, so was Myst, not so for Evan unfortunately as he rattled on and on about their gym class today.

"Man, I barely made it through, thank god for my skateboarding skills," Evan finished as he opened up another gallon of milk and chugged it down.

"You all coulds made it out easily if ya wanted to," Ranma stated as he bit down on some bread. His comment drew a curious look from Myst but it was Evans who wanted to know more.

"Oh? How?"

Ranma shake his head. "If ya all had worked together it woulda been easy."

"We weren't allowed to do that," Evan reminded him and saw that Myst nodded slowly in agreement.

"Actually, he never said anything about not being able to work together at all," Ranma countered. "Not once did he mention you guys should go at it alone but instead said that EVERYONE should have been able to pass it using your powers."

"I don't think that's what he meant though," Evan pondered while cupping his chin. "Or is it? It would have been a great team building exercise..."

Even Myst who was slowly 'eating' her apple stopped as she put some thought into it herself. After a few seconds of thought, Evan smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead.

"Damn it, it's like a trick question!" Evan lamented with a groan. Ranma might be right, the X-men preach about teams and working together a lot, yet everyone went off on their own...

"Flatscan."

Ranma sighed and figured that this was coming. He hoped that Jean and the Professor wouldn't be too mad with him. He'd try to minimize the collateral damage at least.

"Floyd!" Evan said in alarm as he stood up to his full height, his expression one of anger. "That was uncalled for!"

"Disgusting," Myst agreed. There was a small frown marring her features.

"Watcha gonna do Evans, tell your auntie on us?" Floyd, the leader of a pack of three boys, stood at his full height. To his left was a big guy that looked normal except that his skin appeared alligator like, and to his right was another boy who was tall and had some form of fire coming from his hands.

Evan grimaced at the taunt, but these three where powerful mutants in their own right. They were much stronger than him, that's for sure. Idly, he was coming up with a good excuse as to why he was going to be bruised later to his aunt, 'cuz if he doesn't have a good excuse, his mother would kill him.

"One try." Ranma said suddenly.

"What?" Floyd and his friends looked down at the normie in surprise.

"Normally, I would kick your ass from here back to wherever you came from," Ranma explained to them even as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "However, I don't want this to get out of hand, so you get one try to hit me then you leave me alone."

By this time the Cafeteria was silent looking at the developing scene.

"Oh, is that right?" Floyd asked innocently. "Think you are so much better than us, do you Flatscan?"

"I don't think so," Ranma said in a bored tone. "I am."

"Lay him out Fury." Floyd hissed as the boy to his left punched his palm with a glowing balled fist encircled by fire.

Evan was already off his feet and getting ready to intervene, while Myst also was floating toward the pig tailed boy.

There was a loud smacking sound Fury fist connected with flesh. However to the three boys shock, Ranma blocked the attack, his hand already wrapped around the balled fist. The fire seemed to encompassed Ranma's own hand yet the pig tailed boy didn't flinch.

"That's your one try, better luck next time." Ranma said before he shoved Fury, fist first, back a few steps.

People could hear a pin drop in the cafeteria due to the collective shock at Ranma's display.

"Croc!" Floyd ordered as the alligator skinned youth lunged with great speed at the young martial artist, just like an alligator in water.

There was a the sound of something heavy impacting, as the students saw the boy known as Croc doubled over Ranma's arm, an arm that seemed to have be embedded in larger boy gut. Croc's eyes were wide open, as if trying to register the pain as he gasped for air.

None to gently, Ranma took his other free hand and pushed the scaled boy toward the leader of the group.

"You want a go at me too?" Ranma asked in an innocent voice.

"This ain't over Flatscan!" Floyd promised as he and Fury grabbed their friend and made their way out of the lunchroom.

Turning back around to enjoy his lunch he saw Evan and Myst staring at him wide eyed. "What?"

"What?! you…. how!?" Was all Evan could manage as he looked at Ranma before he gathered his thoughts. "I thought my aunt said you weren't a mutant!"

"I'm not." Ranma replied to his two table mates. "Plain ol' Flatscan Ranma, that's me."

"Don't say that word!" Evan chided the pig tailed boy harshly.

"What? Aren't Flatscans non-mutants? Wouldn't that make me a Flatscan?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"Stop! Stop it!" Evan vehemently ordered. "Flatscan is a derogatory term for humans used by the bad guys in the mutant community."

"Truth." Myst agreed with Evan.

"I don't care what they call me," Ranma declared with a frown. "It's not my problem."

"Look, it's just frowned upon here at the school okay?" Evan pleaded, and smiled as he saw Ranma nod in acknowledgment.

"Good." Myst said before she went back to eating.

"Still," Evan said as he sat back down. "How'd you do that? Alligator hides are tough! And how come you didn't get burned by Fury just now!"

"First, Alligator hides aren't that tough," Ranma recalled his dad and him hunting down a few alligators for food. "As for the fire thing, cool Ki to nullify the sensation."

"Cookie?" Evan asked in confusion.

"Cool or Cold Ki, you know," Ranma said as he saw Evan's confused face. "Ya know, Ki, like life energy all around us even inside of us."

"Ohh, you mean like the Force?" Evan eyes said lighting up.

"Jedi?" Myst stop in mid bite to ask.

"What?" Ranma said blinking at the two. "No it's, argh it's complicated, I'll tell you later."

"Jedi." Myst said in satisfaction before going back to eat.

"Man, that was awesome what you did!" Evan boasted as he went back to eating.

"Flatscan."

"God damn it," Ranma half cried out in exasperation to turn around to face a different trio. These one were a lot more normal but appeared to be the fighting type. Standing up he was about to end it quickly when it was ended for him.

"Out of the way Tyler."

The boy in question, Tyler turned around and any demeanor of belligerence melted away as he suddenly turned bashful. "Hey... Cuckoos sisters..."

"You don't know which one I am, do you?" The middle blond of the Cuckoo sisters said in a flat tone.

"Of course I do!" Tyler protested. "You're …. Irma...?"

"Get lost, now before I make you make out with your friends in public," The girl before him said flatly. The boys who were with him were already running.

Ranma saw the boys make their hasty retreat, and stared at the trio of girls standing before him. Right away, he knew the one that did the talking earlier was the one called Celeste. How did he know? She had a little bandage on her forehead, courtesy of his pebble attack from earlier. Still, three telepaths, he was sure he'd be able to move fast enough to knock them out if it came down to it.

Hopefully.

The four stood looking at each other before the sister to the left of Celeste nudged her with her elbow. "Celeste..."

Celeste bit her lower lip and exhaled while glaring at Ranma. "My two sisters felt that we should thank you for bailing us out of the sandbox obstacle course earlier."

It was then the sister on Celeste right elbowed her sharply and gave her a meaningful glare.

"And that I apologize for scanning your mind without your permission..."

The two sisters nodded in satisfaction before turning back to Ranma, awaiting his reply patiently.

Ranma took a moment to let the girl's awkward apology sink in before he responded in a similar fashion. "Errrr... apology accepted... I guess?"

"Great! Now we are in harmony again," the sister to the right let out a put upon breath. "Seriously, nothing would ever get done if she kept on thinking of ways to get back at you for history class."

Looking at Ranma, the girl smiled. "I'm Phoebe, and that's Irma over there, of course you already met Celeste."

"Umm nice to meet ya?"

"To be quite honest, I don't really take too much stock in the rumor that you are a human supremacist," The girl that identified herself as Phoebe said as she casually brought her tray down to the other side of Ranma tray.

"Uh... thanks?" Ranma responded as the other two sisters taking a seat to the left of Pheobe. For some reason he could hear new murmurs starting back up, this time he sensed that the mood was confusion.

"My theory is that you're color blind," Phoebe deduced. Hearing a thud she looked down and saw Ranma had apparently tripped over nothing and landed on the floor face first. "Ranma?"

Ranma picked up himself and immediately defend himself. "I can see fine!"

"No need to act defensive, lots of people are color blind, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Phoebe reasoned.

"Wha- I'm not!"

"Hardship." Myst voice chimed in from across the table as she gave Ranma a sympathetic look.

For a moment, Ranma hoped that someone else tried to pick a fight with him as he listened to the understanding tone of the Cuckoo sister next to him.

+++ Afternoon+++

Fifth Period was uneventful for Ranma, the people that he was there with gave him some weird looks, but overall it wasn't too bad. However, it was sixth period that brought him the headache from lunch.

"Oh hello Ranma, we meet again," Phoebe Cuckoo stated, all smiles.

Ranma simply looked up at the ceiling and glared. "Of course you would do this to me..."

"The ceiling is white if you were wondering," Phoebe pointed out helpfully.

"I'm not color blind!" Ranma protested but the blond already turned her head to face forward.

"Right then class, today, we shall be visiting how to crack a Kree weapon module," Kitty Pryde, codename Shadowcat, immediately said upon entering.

"What happened to the Shi'ar weapons module Professor?" a girl at the front row asked.

"We had to use em all..." Kitty Pryde trailed off and caught sight of Ranma in her class. Smiling she gave him an enthusiastic wave before turning back to the chalkboard to draw the outline of a complicated looking device.

A few glares by the male students that were obviously crushing on the teacher were directed at Ranma for the special attention he received, but the pig-tailed boy didn't care.

"Okay, there!" Kitty announced after drawing a very complicated looking device on the board. "Since we don't have too many modules, you'll have to partner up with somebody. So buddy up! By the time class is over, I'll have you jury rigging a Kree mother ship!"

Immediately, several people got up to exchange seats with other students to partner up. Ranma knew he was going to be the odd man out, and be forced paired with the last person no one wanted to be paired up with. Well, second to last anyway.

"Hey normie, why don't you switch seats with me so I can partner up with Phoebe?" A handsome teen said as he flashed the blonde smile.

"Sure," Ranma said and was about to get up only to have Phoebe grabbed him by his shirt sleeve and tried to pull him back down. "What?"

"You're my lab partner," Phoebe said simply before continuing to make little notes in her note book.

"What?" The handsome boy face looked crestfallen. Unfortunately, the blond didn't give him the time of day, and as if dismissed, the boy went on his way looking for another lab partner.

"Uh... thanks?" Ranma ventured.

"Well, you seem like you would be more focused on the lab work then flirting with me," Phoebe said bluntly.

The girl's confident demeanor was pretty different then the girls back in Nerima. Well, he could deal with that, he wasn't here to pick up even more fiancées, after all.

Unfortunately, while his enthusiasm was there, the material itself was so far beyond his comprehension that it wasn't even funny. Surprisingly, the girl Phoebe didn't make fun of him for it, on the contrary, she took her time and explained what needed to go where, and why. In the end he was nothing more than a glorified helper, but they did complete their assignment.

"Let's see, No Irene, the way you modded this will blow the weapon up upon firing." Kitty, who was walking along, graded the weapon modification she'd given them. "Not bad, not bad, at all, Sam."

"Thanks Professor Pride!"

She finally reached Ranma's table, and after humming for a few moments, nodded. "Not bad, it'll be good enough for a few shots, hopefully to get away at least."

"Damn," Phoebe sighed before she leaned back into her chair.

"Sorry," Ranma apologized, feeling that it was his ineptness that pulled the other blond down.

"Nah, you were competent enough with it, had you had a real understanding of what we were doing, we might have perfected it, but not bad for a beginner."

At her last statement, the bell rung, and just as quickly as she came, she left both the room and a very confused Ranma behind. The day had just been getting weirder and weirder. The hate was still there, but now it was tempered by wariness, and he even made two friends in Spyke and Myst. Still, he couldn't help but bring his mind back to Akane. Sure he teased her, but then that was normal for them, there was no hate laced in it.

Looking down at his little card, his final class for the day was an elective. It's a time where the students got to spend time working on their mutant power with their respective team leader. "Well... shit," He muttered softly as he started to see mutants of similar types walking together.

"Ranma." Myst greeted as she floated by with other students that look incorporeal. There was some with nothing but light on them. Then there was a guy who seemed to be in a container of some sort. Was he made of green gas?

"Gang way bud," Evan said as he skate board pass Ranma but not before patting him on the shoulder as he headed toward Psylocke. The two of them made eye contact and Pyslocke gave Ranma a small nod.

"Ranma!"

Turning around at the voice that called him he saw Ryoga, still in his stone form being accompanied by the purple girl.

"Ryoga..."

"I heard about what you did to that poor sweet girl! You make me sick!"

"Ah shove it up your ass rubb-...," Ranma stopped short as he saw several other students looking at the exchanged. Yes, it was true, Ranma was about to called Ryoga by a new nickname he came up by himself. Rubble. "You know what, forget it, I don't have to explain nothing to you."

"Don't you turn your back on me!" Ryoga said loudly but was suddenly restrained by two other power type guys.

"Cool it man, we be late for Colossus' lesson, let it go."

Exchanging one final glare between each other, Ranma made to leave, but was stopped when he crossed paths with Akane, who only gave him a pitying look and walked away. In the group that she was with, there were girls that had fire and ice on their fingers or in some cases, the palms of their hands.

Things would have ended well there, except for when the three Cuckoo sisters all passed by him in front of Akane.

"Ranma."

"Hi, bye!"

"..."

Ranma saw Akane eyes narrowed and the familiar fire of jealousy shone in her eyes again. He opened his arms to protest his innocence but she wasn't having any of it. With a final glare she turned her head and walked with her group.

After a few moments, he found himself the only one in the empty hallways.

For a few moments, Ranma wonder what he should do. There was no mentor for him. Not really. It then occurred to Ranma that with no mentor and the free period, he could do anything he wanted.

"Time to train!" Ranma grinned as he now could get practice for real. True, he didn't have his pops as a sparring partner anymore, but the man wasn't giving him much of a workout anymore anyway.

With a grin on his face, he jumped into the trees lightly, leaping from branch to branch till he reached the top to get a better view of the entire Xavier Institute. What he saw impressed him, as the main gate itself was a good mile away from the driveway, not to mention there were other buildings behind the mansion itself.

Jumping back down and landing light, Ranma touched the oak tree and felt that it was sturdy enough to begin his training regime.

While training, he could detect a physical presence that closed in on him, he just never accounted for a Telepathic summon. It wasn't until Jean's mental announcement with Ranma in the zone did it stop Ranma in mid punch. 'Jean?' he thought back to be sure.

'Ranma? You're focused again?"

'UH yes, Sorry, you guys awake now? Ya doing okay?'

'We're fine, just fatigue, school's over by the way.'

'Is it? Huh, didn't even notice the time passing by.'

'Yes, that was... interesting.'

'What was?' Ranma though as he put his shirt back on. He'd need to shower again later as soon as he found out where he was staying. Hopefully, that damn bed down in the lab wasn't his permanent residence, but knowing his luck it might be. Looking at the area he was in, a lot of the trees now had it barks exposed, and while he didn't destroy any on purpose, it wouldn't take much more for woodcutters to finish the job.

'You don't know?' Jean thought to him.

'… I'm asking ain't I?'

'When you were focused like that, and I was inside your mind, normally you'd react very negatively to it. This time, you didn't force me out but instead appeared to have synced up with my presence. Not violently rejecting me, but I felt as if... as if... as if I could do no wrong. Sorry, I don't know how else to describe it.'

'Oh... No idea. Oh hey, you wouldn't happen to know where I'll be sleeping would ya?'

'The lab of course.'

Ranma physically staggered at that revelation until he felt the humor in the thought. If she wasn't his doctor...

'Har. Har. Ya got me. That was funny.'

'So I heard you had a bumpy first day today, wanna talk about it?'

'We starting my therapy now?'

'Well no, I am asking you know as a concerned adult. I know kids could be... vindictive.'

'Bah, it ain't nothing. Although... I did hit some guy name Croc... sorry.'

'While we don't condone settling things with violence except as a last resort... I actually kept tabs on you. You were a tad confrontational, but otherwise justified in your response.'

'Oh... Thanks...' Ranma thought back in genuine amazement at not getting chewed out. Looking up, he saw a familiar figure flying above him.

"Lord Ranma, I found you. Lady Grey and Professor Xavier await in his studies," Kiima said from overhead.

"You know the way?" Ranma asked the winged woman.

"If you please," Kiima landed and started to walk toward the mansion.

Upon reentering the mansion, he saw a few students straggling here and there, with a few of the older teachers out and about talking to them in small clusters. After a series of turns, he found himself in front of a nice set of oak doors. Kiima knocked politely, before backing away and allowing Ranma entry.

"Come in," Professor Xavier's voice declared from the other side.

Slowly, Ranma walked inside and saw a baby Saffron flying around, making diving passes at the Professor while giggling. Upon a second look, the baby wasn't really flying. 'Telekinesis.' Ranma figured, and saw Jean sitting on the sofa smiling up at the little boy.

"Ranma," the Professor greeted the pigtailed youth as he gently lowered the baby being toward Jean. Turning around, he looked at the young man before him. "How are you feeling? Any headaches, nausea, anything feel off to you?"

"Far as I can see, everything is normal and I don't seem to be freaking out over cats anymore," Ranma answered with a relieved expression on his face.

"Mind if I delve into your mind to see if the blocks we put on it is still holding steady?" the Professor asked, but his tone clearly suggested that it was something Ranma ought to agree to.

"Of course, ya helped me out a lot!" Ranma told the man and his protégé. Right after he agreed the Professor closed his eyes and a moment later, Ranma felt a presence in his mind.

After a minute, the presence disappeared and the Professor opened his eyes back up again.

"Just as I suspected, while the mental block we put in is a strong one and intricate, your psyche was just too deeply affected by the Cat Fist training. I am afraid that our estimate of the block holding for a year was overly generous."

"How long?" Ranma asked swallowing hard as he did so.

"At the least, six months. If you are lucky, Eight or Nine. It all depends on how well you face your inner demons Mr. Saotome," the Professor gave Ranma encouraging look.

Ranma absorbed the news and nodded. This was his battle to fight. And, Ranma Saotome never loses. Looking at the Professor and Jean, Ranma gave a deep grateful bow from the waist down. "Thank you for everything you guys have done for me. Truly."

"No need for any of that," the Professor waved away in embarrassment. "Please."

"Now as to our next order of business," Jean prompted after smiling. And look at an adjacent door that was in Professor Xavier room. "You can come out now."

There was a soft click as the door open to reveal a golden furred cat girl looking extremely nervous and uncomfortable.

"Ah, Ms. Clarke," the Professor greeted warmly and was rewarded with a smiled in his direction. "I believe Mr. Saotome has something he would like to say to you."

Ranma gave the nervous cat girl a once over and absently noted that she was pretty cute. Still. He did owe her an apology if not more. Executing the greatest move ever known in the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Ranma flawlessly performed the Crouch of the Wild Tiger technique.

"I'm sorry, I'm really really really sorry!" Ranma babbled while crouching in submission.

Ranma's groveling took everyone in the room by surprise. Even baby Saffron was peering curiously at the human.

Sybil blinked once, blinked twice, until it finally registered exactly what she was seeing before her. Curiously she doesn't sense reluctant or overpowering fear like yesterday. "Umm, it's okay...please get up?"

Ranma grinned on his last descent down and stood back up straight facing the cat girl. "I'm Ranma Saotome, sorry about yesterday. I had nothing against you; I just have this... fear of cats."

Sybil eyes widen at that admission and though she felt bad that Ranma feared cats, she was glad that it was not because of what she was but because of what she looked like. She frowned a bit at that line of thought.

"Thankfully, the Professor and Jean say they're gonna be helping me with my... problem," Ranma admitted grudgingly before bowing again formally. "For what's it worth, I think you make a pretty cute cat girl"

Sybil feline senses were all telling her that Ranma was completely sincere, and now that he was in the same vicinity, he was not looking at her any differently than anyone else. She blushed a bit when he called her cute, and if she didn't know better she said he had some feline traits about him. Shaking her head at the thought, she walked up to Ranma and gave him a hug. She had heard from Jean about the treatment he had been given through the day partly due to her. The whole thing was just a big misunderstanding.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble today too, if you'd don't mind, I would like to be your guide until you get the hang of the campus."

Ranma was a bit surprised by the hug, but due to the amount of times he had been hugged by his various fiancées, he wasn't too fazed by it. "Uh... sure, I mean, if you are okay with it..."

"Great! I'll meet you in the Cafeteria at breakfast tomorrow!" Sybil smiled cheerfully now that everything had been cleared up. Looking over at the Professor she wondered if there was anything else.

"I believe that is all," the Professor happily announced. While it was true that Ranma's fear of cats would need to be overcome, the fact that Ranma hadn't exhibited any aversion to Ms. Clarke was a good first step. "You can leave Ms. Clarke. Thank you for your time."

"Anytime Professor!" Sybil cheerfully replied before she gave a cheery wave and exited.

Turning back to Ranma, the Professor brought up another topic concerning the young man. "It has come to my attention, due to sheer oversight on my part, that you have no mentor for the free period reserve for such an endeavor."

"Yeah..." Ranma shrugged.

"I find that it would be unfair to you to be left out like that, but my problem is finding who could actually teach you anything useful regarding your abilities," the Professor continued as he used his hover chair to get back behind his desk. "It was Logan's suggestion that you be given usage of the danger room for your free period so you can hone your skill. Jean here however suggested that we should let you audit any class you'd like to maybe learn something new, even if your abilities are different from ours. As such I found myself in a conundrum."

"A what drum?" Ranma asked. He followed along until the last part well enough.

"A dilemma. You see, only the most senior students get access to the Danger Room and I'm afraid by giving you access to it, it might look like a case of favoritism. While at the same time, if I gave you permission to audit their class, I have to wonder if you are truly learning anything worthwhile from it, other than a deeper understanding of Mutantkind. Logan feels that it would be a great disservice to you and your abilities if we make you do that instead. As you simply do not fall into any of the category we have at the moment."

"Ah..."

"Which was when Ms. Grey reminded me that I can solve this dilemma by adhering to the fundamental teaching of this school," the Professor said before looking at Ranma from across his desk.

"And that is...?" Ranma prompted the older man.

"Choices, Mr. Saotome, we should all be free to choose our path. What choice would you make for yourself?" the Professor finished and fell silent as he looked at the pig tailed boy.

Ranma frowned at that. The old man was passing the responsibility to him because he couldn't decide?! But then upon further reflection, he didn't think the old man was the kind of person to do that... so now the choice was his. The Danger Room would be a training ground of a sort he'd guess, and yes he would hone his skills or at the least not let them rust too much. However, there was some merit for attending the other students mentoring classes too. He could be inspired to create new technique for his own uses.

In the end, he felt the choice that would benefit him the most was the one that let him attend the mentoring classes. Since he'd been here, he had seen a wide array of mutant abilities that would have taken him by surprise him in Nerima. If he could learn how mutants' abilities worked, learn their limitations, then he could work on abilities to counter them.

The world that he had known, where martial artists battled one another had been flipped upside down. Now, there were people that could shut down a martial artist with zero training. He would need a wide array of skills to survive in this new world, and learning from them would be the best start he could get.

"Professor," Ranma spoke up after contemplating for a few minutes in silence. "I think I would like to sit in on those mentoring lessons."

The Professor looked a bit surprised by the teen's choice but respected it. "Very well then. We will set up a rotation with the mentors."

+++ Evening +++

Ranma had been dropped off at the co-ed dormitory by Scott Summers before he head back to the main mansion. Looking at the impressive double door of the building, he walked in and was immediately greeted by a gaming area, television area, a small kitchen area, and boys and girls chatting with each other. At first he thought it was all students until he saw a few of the teachers chatting amongst each other. There appeared to be five or six of them, three he recognized as Wolverine, Pyslocke and Strong Guy, the other three he did not. There was a girl that was like that picture Dr. McCoy showed him yesterday, a guy with a machine for an arm, and another man covered from head to toe in white.

It was Logan who turned around and saw their newest recruit.

"So ya made it through the day alive, eh? "Wolverine joked before he beckoned at a smaller student to come over to them. "Ranma, you're gonna be sharing a room with Beak over here."

Ranma watched as a small, thin, and bony young boy with the head of a chicken or some such bird made his way nervously to the older man.

"Alright Beak, This is Ranma, he'll be your roommate for the year, got it?" Wolverine asked the obviously nervous chicken boy.

"Of-Of course Mr. Wolverine, sir," Beak replied a bit fearfully.

Wolverine let out an exasperate sigh and motioned for Ranma to come close. "Look Beak, don't believe in all the rumors alright? Ranma is not a human supremacist terrorist waiting to blow us all up at the first chance he gets. Alright? You're smarter than that."

Unfortunately, Wolverine's pep talk did little to reassure the bird boy.

Ranma decided to take charge of the situation and step up to the bird boy making him yelp in fright and backed away hurriedly a bit. "My name's Ranma Saotome, I'll be in your care."

Beak who had been looking ready to hyperventilate at the normal boy proximity stopped when he registered Ranma's words. "You're in... my care?"

"Of course," Ranma said easily. "In Japan, the senior person at a location takes care of the younger one."

"Is that true?" Beak looked to Wolverine who was known to have lived in Japan before.

"That's right Beak, you're what the Japanese called a Senpai now so that makes you Ranma's upperclassman," Wolverine gave Ranma a grin and a thumbs up for the nice attack angle.

"M-me? His Upperclassmen?" Beak squawked before he calmed himself and puff himself up to his full, albeit short, height. "Right then, umm this way, Ranma."

Ranma and Wolverine shared a knowing look before the pig-tailed boy followed the smaller boy up the stairs into the corner dorm room.

"Here we are!" Beak announced proudly.

As far as rooms went, Ranma had seen worse, while it was cluttered with Beak's things, there was nothing to suggest it was pigsty.

"So- so you like it?" Beak asked tentatively, and noticed he had some of his computer games on the extra bed.

"It's nice," Ranma replied honestly. As he slung the back pack from his shoulder and fell back first onto the bed.

"Umm… Oh yeah, bathroom and shower is down stairs, and we have a kitchen if anyone feels like making a late night snack. Dinner is usually served here, since the school is closed." Beak rattled on and looked over to his new roommate, only to find the boy's eyes closed and asleep already.

Upon closer inspection, Beak didn't think Ranma looked like such a bad person. Looking at the clock, he noted that it was almost dinner time. As quietly as he could he tip toed out of the room and turned off the lights before shutting the door as lightly as possible as to not disturbed his guest.

No sooner had the door shut then one of Ranma eyes shot open and looked around. Sitting up over the side of the bed he had to admit that guy named Beak was a pretty nice guy. A bit of a scaredy cat, but nice.

"Hello."

"Gah!" Ranma shouted as he jumped up from the bed and turned around and let out a breath at seeing Myst. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

The long haired mist-like girl simply shrugged her shoulders.

Shaking his head, Ranma turned the lights back on and sat on his bed. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Neighbors," Myst replied.

"Neigh- Oh your room is next door?" Ranma asked having figured it out.

Myst simply nodded.

"So what are you doing here? You know this is a boys room right?" Ranma informed the girl. Sure she was mostly mist but that doesn't mean she should be alone in a room with a boy.

"Roommate's." Myst trailed off with a blush, which was something to see considering her near translucent state. "Privacy."

"Wha- oh. OH!" Ranma also blushed as he realized what Myst was trying to say.

"Wanted..."

Ranma titled his head curiously as the girl continued. "Wanted?"

"Visit. " Myst said softly her form became a bit distorted after the admittance. "Friend."

A bit amazed that Myst spoke more than one word at a time, Ranma grinned at the girl. "Well my friend is always welcome here."

"Thanks." Myst replied.

"So what do you want to do?" Ranma asked as holding a conversation with Myst might be pretty difficult.

"Play," Myst said eyeing an object underneath on Beak side. "Monopoly."

Ranma had never played the board game before, but he could learn how for his friend. He was in the middle of reading the back of the box to figure out the rules when Beak came back with a tray filled with food and gave a startled squawk at seeing Ranma up and about.

"Y-You're awake!"

"Yeah, was just a bit tired earlier," Ranma said then palmed his forehead as he forgot to introduced his friend. "Beak this is Myst, my friend. Myst, this is Beak, my roommate."

"I know about Myst, she rarely talks to anyone!" Beak exclaimed before he realized that he might have been rude, but covered his mouth.

"Okay." Myst spoke up.

Ranma grinned at Beak's shocked expression before a thought occurred to him. "Oh hey, Beak you wouldn't happen to know how to play this game would ya?"

"Monopoly? Yeah, I do actually." Beak said as he looked at the board fondly. He had brought it with him with the intent of playing it with friends, but no one ever became his friend.

"Great, wanna join us for a game? While you are at it, could you teach me how to play?" Ranma tried to coerce his roommate.

"Rea-really? You wanna play a board game with me?" Beak asked in amazement before shaking his head. "Of course, I do!"

"Great!" Ranma said before turning to Myst and whispered. "You don't mind a third, do you?

Myst simply shook her head and pointed back at the Monopoly board.

"Then it's settled. I don't know what game this is, but Ranma Saotome never loses!" Ranma declared cockily.

"Arrogant." Myst tone chided.

Ranma flash a cocky smile in the girl direction.

"Will." Myst began with an odd gleam in her eyes. "Humble."

Beak couldn't believe the banter that was going on, something that he wished would have happened with him, only to never be selected or invited to any dorm room parties. Seeing Ranma's expression of playful glee, he couldn't help but grin back. "Y- You two are going down!" He half squawked.

"That's the spirit!" Ranma cheered. "It's not fun if you don't put your pride on the line."

Beak had to smile at that before remembering something. Turning around he took the tray of food he brought in and handed it to Ranma. "Here, I, thought you might be hungry when you woke up so... I got something for you."

Ranma looked at the tray and back at the bird boy. This boy was clearly scared of him, even had misgiving yet, his innate nature was kind. "Thank man."

Setting the tray down, Ranma looked at the dinner which was meatloaf, some mash potatoes, some other assorted veggies, and bread, with a soda to wash it down. It would be what Ranma considered a light snack, but he could go without a real meal every now and then. He then turned to his friend, who he realized missed dinner too.

"Want some?" Ranma asked the girl.

"Yes." Myst uttered. Then looking at the tray, she pointed at some meat the bread and steamed veggies. "Feed."

Ranma stabbed some veggies on the fork and held out to the girl expecting her to take it. So it was to his surprise that she simply leaned down and ate off of it. Well, in the way she does. It wasn't chewing what she did but more like dissolving the food.

"Delicious." Myst commented. "More."

"Kay..." Ranma trailed off before feeding the girl some more. He had a feeling that she was somehow enjoying this more than she should.

TBC

Next : Orientation Part 3

AN: Well, fast update right? Wrong! I had written it and was tweaking it. I also would have written more too but Icura, another author in this site gave me a long web novel to read. Now I am hook on that and until I finish that saga, I can't write anything.

That being said!

Myst is an original character. In the last chapter I showed the vocal minority. Then we have the sheeps and those that don't care. This is highschool folks, clicks, faction, popularity and what not factor in. Now keep in mind Professor Xavier want to give the students as close to a normal experince as possible but adding in the unique...curriculum.

I also decided to do this story in Arcs just like the comics style. So this is Orientation. Arc. I don't forsee each Arc being any longer then 4-5 chapters.

Glad for the feed back for those that like it and sorry for those that don't. It's an experience that's for sure!

As always C+C welcome, Reviews appreciate. I'll get back tot his when I finish reading that web novel! Sorry folks!


	4. Orientation: Part Three

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

Special thanks to The big Cheese for editing this bad boy!

Homo Superior

Orientation: Part Three

**** Next Day, Xavier Institute for Higher Learning ****

It was a brand new day at the Xaiver Co-Ed Dormitory and the student body was hurriedly getting ready for school. The bathrooms were filled to capacity; the showers were all in use and there were lines for both boys and girls. For the lucky ones that got all of their morning hygienic care out of the way, there remained only one task.

Breakfast.

From the top of the floor three people could be seen walking down the steps, talking animatedly with one another. Several students to give them a wide berth while others were rushing to pass them, uncaring of who they were.

"You would have had a chance Myst if you didn't let me buy up all of the railroads," Beak consoled the mist-like girl walking on the other side of his roommate.

"Mistakes," Myst acknowledged before looking over at the person between them. "Gloating."

"Yeah yeah, ya kicked my ass," Ranma grumbled as he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. "Happy?"

"So-Sorry, Ranma," Beak sheepishly looked away from the pig tailed boy who was dressed in some sort of kung-fu outfit. "But I think with time you could improve!"

"Impossible," Myst chimed up with a shake of her lead looking at Ranma. "Bad."

Ranma flinched as if struck, Myst's words cutting straight to the point. Apparently he was not only bad at gambling but board games that dealt with money too! He bet Nabiki would have destroyed both though.

Beak saw Ranma's dejected expression and pat him on the back. It was then he saw some of the student looking oddly at him. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be focused on Ranma and straining his ears, he could pick up a few titbits of conversation.

"What the, isn't that the mutant hater? Why is Beak…?"

"Weird, shouldn't Beak and Myst be kind of freaking him out?"

"Nah man, Myst ate lunch with him yesterday, but then again, she's always been odd."

"You sure he's racist? Cause he doesn't look very hate mongering right now."

Looking around, Beak noticed that it was only a few students that said that and those that did appeared to avoid his gaze when he focused on them. Looking to his roommate again, he could not imagine the person that he played Monopoly with last night with could ever be labelled a human supremacist and wondered how that rumor could have started.

"Morning guys," Evan Daniels Munroe greeted the trio with a yawn as he made his way to the boys' bathroom on the ground level.

"Sup man!" Ranma grinned in greeting while next to him Myst simply fluctuated for a bit and waved.

"H-hi?!" Beak replied not sure if he should chime in or not. He wasn't a friend of Spyke, but then again, he wasn't a friend of anyone. Unfortunately, by the time he replied, the boy was long gone.

Walking, or in Myst's case, floating, the trio made their way out of the dormitory and towards the Cafeteria.

Ranma noticed that Beak was struggling to keep up with the pace he had set and slowed down.

"Figured those chicken legs of yours would be faster."

Beak looked up sharply at Ranma'a comment. He heard those words before, used to cruelly make fun of him both by non-mutants and the good looking mutants around here. Yet unlike those that made fun of him to bully him, the grin plastered on his friend's face let him know that it was anything but malicious.

"Beak?" Ranma queried again, only to see the bird like boy in deep thought. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned around to see Myst floating close to him. Looking ahead, he could see the cafeteria was half full. He caught the odd glance and noticed people whispering to each other but ignored both. His new policy was that they could all kiss his ass. Teachers and present company excluded.

"Ranma!"

The background noise that had been permeating outside of the cafeteria suddenly stop as the other students recognized the voice. It was Sybil. True enough, the pretty blonde furred cat girl rushed over to the boy that had supposedly discriminated against her. Shocking many.

"Oh hey, sup Sybil or do you want me to call you Feral?" Ranma asked Feral stopped in front of them.

"You can call me either or," Sybil said happily as she noticed Ranma's two companions and gave a wider smile. "Good morning Myst, Beak."

Beak squawked a bit at being greeted. Sybil was one of the more popular girls in school, both because she was pretty and because she was friendly. A girl like that greating him with such a beatific smile was enough to make him feel as if he was on cloud nine. He returned her smile, best as he could, with a goofy one of his own.

"Feral." Myst greeted back amicably.

"Hmmm Sybil is good then?" Ranma asked. He noticed the girl stood in front of him looking pretty cute in yellow dress with ruffle straps that exposed her furred shoulders, before he did a double take, realizing he had thought a cat was cute.

"That's fine!" Sybil smiled even brighter before turning to the cafeteria. "Let's get breakfast and if we finish early enough I can give you a tour of the school before class starts."

"Sure," Ranma said as he walked inside the cafeteria with his two friends in tow.

"Hey, what the hell? Is that Sybil with the normie?!"

"Wait wait, I thought Sybil was chased away by this guy for being a mutant?!"

"Chase? I heard he went after her with a knife and try to stab her!"

"What? No way!"

"Way! Why else you think she was missing yesterday? She had to get treatment for her cut!"

"Does that look like someone that has a problem with mutants to you?"

"Look at them, chatting it up as if nothing happened."

"Fuck... Don't tell me it was a misunderstanding."

"..." Ranma had fallen silent and pretty much tuned Sybil out as she told him the history of the school, instead picking up the little snippets of conversation and had to viciously smirk at the dumbasses.

"I'm sorry," Sybil said suddenly as her enhanced hearing picked up the mutterings. Was it because of her that Ranma's reputation was in the gutter?

Sensing what she was sorry about, Ranma shrugged his shoulder at the cat girl. "Don't matter to me, let's eat!"

"Ignorance." Myst stated as she calmly got in line behind Ranma, followed by Sybil and Beak.

Ranma saw Sybil turned to make small chat to a blushing red Beak and hid a smile. Looks like his roommate had a crush. Although, she's a cat, and he's a bird... did that mean that she viewed him as food?! He thought in alarm before he spotted Akane eating with her guide.

Akane, as if sensing eyes on her, turned around to look at Ranma before shaking her head in a disappointed manner at him. A second later she spotted the cat girl behind him and eyes widened in alarm and pointed frantically at the girl to him.

Grinning at his new found freedom, he deliberately turned around to Sybil, well aware that Akane was starting to turn as white a sheet as she started to panic. Reaching out slowly, he tapped Sybil on her shoulder.

Akane let out a loud whimper as Ranma saw the cat girl and then pat her on the shoulder. But to her confusion, he simply waved to the perplexed Cat-Girl!

"Are ya alright Kane?" Rogue asked in alarmed at the girl under her care. Turning around she saw Sybil who looked happy again (as usual) and that new boy, Ran- something. "Oh hey, that's Sybil with friend ain't it?"

"What?!"

Ranma heard Akane loud shout and saw the people in her surrounding area turn to look at the origin of the noise, making her turn red in embarrassment. He saw his fiancée's head darting back and forth between him and his guide rapidly, the expression on her face one of pure disbelief.

"Yes Ranma?" Sybil asked waiting for the reason why Ranma called her, the pig tailed boy simply waved at her. Naturally she waved back in confusion even as he turned back around.

Ranma was feeling immensely smug at having shown up Akane as the girl appeared to be rapidly talking with her guide and gesturing in his direction. Looking around, he didn't see Ryoga anyway. With any luck, the pile of rocks had gotten himself lost and never to be found again!

After picking up his breakfast, Ranma's friends and guide were sitting at a table. Unlike yesterday, however, the majority of the other students didn't move tables.

"Wow, Ranma, can you really eat all of that?" Beak asked in awe of his friend's appetite which dwarfed his own by a considerable margin.

Feral also had a larger than normal, well normal by human standards, portion but due to her mutation and nature she needed meat and lots of it.

"No sweat, Wolverine told me not to hold back," Ranma replied as he eyed his pile of food that was easily twice what he ate yesterday. Since Wolverine gave him the okay to eat as much as he'd like, he was going to take full advantage of that generosity. He was, however, glad that some of the bigger students appeared to grab even more food than him, making him look relatively normal by comparison.

"See, I told you he was color blind."

The moment Ranma heard those words, he knew it was that girl again. The other blonde in the triplet. Turning around he saw the three girls sauntering their way up to his table catching a lot of the surrounding boys' attention before stopping in front of him.

Beak was in heaven, it was the top beauties of the school, the Stepford Cuckoos! He gazed at them with a dreamy expression.

"What's with the kung fu clothes?" the blonde in the middle asked.

"Celeste." Ranma made eye contact with her to let her know in no uncertain terms that he would tolerate any mind probing. How Ranma knew it was Celeste? It was because of the band-aid that was still on her forehead. Turning to the girl on the left he had to correct her again. "And I am not color blind!"

"It's okay," Phoebe cooed in a sympathetic tone before taking a seat next to the pig tailed boy. Next to her, her two sisters also took seats, drawing attentions to themselves. "Like I said, it's nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Arggghhh!" Ranma choked out before a giggle from Sybil grabbed his attention.

Celeste, who was now defacto leader of the group looked over to Feral and tilted her head. "I see you no longer have a problem with him?"

"The name is Ranma," Ranma interjected flatly but the middle blonde simply turned away from him.

"It was all a major misunderstanding on my part!" Sybil said apologetically while looking over at Ranma. She guessed she was just overly sensitive to that type of reaction and in turned overreacted.

"What is going on here?"

Turning around Ranma saw it was that guy Flooze or something with his gator pals looking between him and Feral in disbelief.

"Why are you sitting with the fla-I mean normine?"The boy asked Sybil completely disregarding Ranma.

"Why not? I'm his guide," Sybil replied in a friendly manner.

"But- I, didn't he, like do bad stuff to you or something? Called you names and stuff?" the boy and his two strong friend were now looking extremely confused.

Sybil appeared shocked, wondering just how badly Ranma's reputation was tarnished by the rumor. "No he didn't! Ranma never said an unkind word to me!" She defended her charge. As far as she was so concerned base on what she was told, he never did say an unkind word to her, it was just a natural reaction to fear.

"Wh- wha? Really?" the boy asked Sybil insistently again.

Sybil only nodded.

The boy expression looked confused, lost, then looked back to Ranma, a guilty expression on his face. Swallowing hard he opened his mouth. "He-hey, umm, normie- look, about, yesterday... umm…"

Ranma blinked a few time at what he was seeing. Was he admitting he was wrong yesterday? Someone, admitting they were wrong when they attacked him? Preposterous! Yet here it was.

"I... umm, I'm sorry ya know. I didn't know..."

Shaking his head he look at the boy and sighed. "Look no harm no foul alright?" Ranma compromised.

"H-Hey thanks man, you're pretty cool about it," the boy said before leaving from the table chatting with his two friends about what they did yesterday.

"What was that about?" Sybil asked curiously.

"Oh that? They tried picking a fight with me yesterday," Ranma began and saw the look of horror on Sybil face before grinning cockily. "But they failed."

"Yeah, you were pretty strong. I don't believe you're a normal human at all," Phoebe said reasonably before taking a sip of milk from her straw. "I mean, you took out Croc with one punch, that's pretty muntant-y to me."

"Yah." Irma nodded in agreement from the Celeste other side.

Sybil then looked over to Ranma in surprise and started to scan the boy but couldn't see anything abnormal about him. "You took out Croc with one punch?"

"Meh," Ranma shrugged as he began to polish of the rest of his food. "Wasn't that hard. His defense was wide open and his punch was sloppy."

"D-doesn't he have super tough skin?" Beak finally was able to gain the confidence to talk around all these pretty girls.

"Hmm, I guess," Ranma said before chugging his drink. "But it wasn't anything special, I've hit tougher."

"I swear you eat like a pig," Celeste observed the pig tailed boy. "I mean, how do you even eat all of that? You have a normal body."

To everyone surprise Ranma's demeanor seem to take a hint as he hunched onto himself and grumbled something about wishing his body was normal. The girls all had to agree, Ranma's body wasn't half bad.

"So why is someone Japanese wearing a Chinese outfit?" Irma asked the now gloomy looking boy.

"Eh, picked it up in China and I liked it," Ranma explain after renewing his confidence. The way the three girls eyed him critically was worse than the way Nabiki usually eye him for profit.

"Well you look like one of those geeky cosplayers with that one," Celeste pointed out and her two sisters naturally agreed with her.

"Co-Cosplayer?" Ranma's eyebrow twitched at the comment but let it slide.

Any further conversation was cut off when a small commotion began at the entrance to the cafeteria entrance.

"Oh wow, it's the elites!"

"Look at Julian, he's so dreamy!"

"One of these days, I am gonna ask Wallflower out."

"Laurie's holding down the fort I see."

"Wonder how many mission they have been on so far."

Ranma turned around just in time to see a group of teens in yellow and pink uniform enter the building. Among them he could spot a guy with red wings, some guy that looked like he was made out of gold, followed a tall black guy with yellow shades on. Behind him was a pretty blonde girl with an easy smile chatting it up with a blue hair Japanese girl. Further back was a pony tailed brunette with a confident look about her talking with a normal looking brown haired boy that seem to keep to himself and finally a handsome boy with slight long hair walking with confidant arrogance. The last person in the group seem to scanned the crowd and basked in the admiration of his peers.

There was a collective sigh at Ranma table making him glance at his table mates and saw the same dreamy expression on most of the girls. The Cuckoos were clearly attracted to the last guy, the way Myst was starting at him, her complexion turning redder, spoke volumes and even Feral seem to be giving out a low purr that would normally scare him.

"Yum," Phoebe stated bluntly as she eyed the last guy. It didn't hurt that he was wearing a skin tight suit.

As if sensing the stares from Ranma's table, the handsome boy in question turned around and gave a charming smile in their direction, eliciting another sigh. It was then the boy eyes fell onto Ranma and there appeared to be a curious lit to it.

"So who are they supposed to be?" Ranma asked curiously, seeing that the group carried themselves proudly. There were signs that they were training of some kind but nothing too intensive.

"They're X-men in training, the elite students at this school," Sybil answered, finally tearing her gaze away from the last boy and bringing her focus back on Ranma. "They have access to the Danger Room, and get sent on real missions, with a supervisor of course."

"That's a big deal?" Ranma inquired as he looked at the uniformed students who clearly commanded the respect of most of the room.

"Yeah! Of course!" Phoebe chimed in after having visually feasted to her heart content. "We're in a team ourselves you know."

Now that did surprised Ranma as he turned to look at the three sisters. "Really? You three?"

"Yeah, our adviser is Ms. Frost, the most powerful telepath at this school," Irma declared proudly.

"I thought it was Jean or the Professor?" Ranma rebutted. That seemed to take some of the wind from the triplet sails.

"Well...I mean, it's debatable," Celeste grudgingly conceded. "When Ms. Frost used to be their enemy, she got the jump on Jean and the Professor several times."

"Except, she always ended up losing too," Sybil gently reminded the triplet and smirked a bit. "The X-men always defeated Ms. Frost."

"But not initially!" Phoebe countered quickly. "It always took something going wrong for Ms. Frost to lose."

"Anyway!" Irma injected quickly before they turn into who's the most powerful telepath debate. She turned to Ranma and smiled. "We received special training and get to use the Danger Room too, along with Cerebro!"

From the looks on Sybil, Myst and Beak faces, that was indeed something special.

"So you three goes on missions too?" Ranma inquire looking at the girls mentally added a few notches of respect for the girls.

"Yep, but we can't talk about it, very hush hush," Celeste replied smugly. She was a bit irked that other than nodding, Ranma did not seem that impressed. Doesn't he realize how huge of a deal it was to go on missions?

Anything else they wanted to say was interrupted when the bell rang letting them know it was only a few minutes until class time.

+++ First Period+++

To Ranma surprise, the blond hair professor that was there yesterday was not seen. Instead in his place was a female that look similar to the male.

"Okay then, my name is Paige Guthrie, and yes before anyone asks, I am Sam's sister," The pretty blonde informed the class. "Now let's see what Sam had you guys working on yesterday..."

As the teacher began her lesson, which, to his amusement was about how to file paperwork correctly, he noticed that the class mood seem to be less oppressive then yesterday. In fact, unlike the dirty looks from yesterday, most of those same students were giving him questioning looks or sneaking peaks at him from the corner of their eye.

"Right, now you might look down on how to file this damn paperwork but I tell you, the best way to doctor paper works is if you know what form look like what, that can be the difference between a real invitation from S.H.I.E.L.D.S and an ambush by Hydra. Now some of you might..."

Ranma furiously tried to take notes but suddenly felt an incoming projectile heading towards his head and tilted his head, allowing the projectile to pass harmlessly passed him .

"Now sometimes, we might seem like we are getting in trouble with the law, but that's not always the case. The Brotherhood and other members have been known to doctor their paperwork to make law enforcement help them. However, this is how you can tell that they are all counterfeit. First you must..."

Not ten minutes after the first attack, a second projectile was flung at him. Once again, he tilted his head and a folded piece of paper sailed by him and landed once more onto the floor.

"A.I.M like to use cops for their purposes, they usually go with local law enforcement, that's A.I.M as in Advance..."

"Psst."

Ranma stopped his note writing and looked to his side where a red hair boy was trying to get this attention discretely. 'What?' Ranma mouthed silently.

The boy in question looked at the teacher before slipping a little yellow note to Ranma.

Curious, Ranma unfolded the paper and saw a question was written on it.

'I thought you had a problem with Sybil?!'

Realization dawned on Ranma of the implication of this letter. When they thought he was anti-mutant, they were hostile and he couldn't blame em. He's of the same principle that only fools turn the other cheeks. Unless they are your fiancée. Now, having obviously been seen in her company at breakfast as well as having being escorted to home room by her, he realize their hatred have been replaced by blatant curiosity.

'I never did. That was a misunderstanding.'

Having scribbled it to the best of his ability, Ranma hand whipped out incredibly quickly and placed the paper back on the red hair boy's desk.

"Now, Hydra, or rather, Madam Hydra likes paper work too and often time gives her lackey orders on paper work with hydra seal. That is what we call a dumb ass move because..."

Ranma sensed the incoming motion first and saw the red hair boy hand stretched from the floor to his desk before retracting to its normal length leaving a note on his desk again. Opening it again, Ranma read its contents.

'Oh Em Gee! Are you serious?!'

It took Ranma a moment to decipher the idiom used by the note writer by replied with a simple yes before handing the letter back. No sooner had he handed the letter back did another one arrive a few minutes later.

'Damn it, I feel like an asshole, sorry!'

Ranma grinned at the note and replied.

'Don't worry about it, misunderstanding happen all the damn time with me. It's nothing new.'

By the time he sent the last note off the bell had rung and he stood up and headed out from class only to be greeted by Sybil.

"Hey Ranma, I heard you missed out on Chem yesterday because no one would take you there," Sybil said in apologetic tone.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal," Ranma console the girl. "You can take me there now?"

"Great!" Sybil replied happily as she lead Ranma to his next class.

"Ranma!"

Said boy in question stopped immediately in his track upon hearing the voice of the girl who uttered it.

"Akane?"

Turning around Ranma saw Akane was with two of her friends, one of them was the Japanese girl from before and another was an Arabic girl with a cowl or shaw over her head. Slowly he saw her walking up to him look between Sybil and himself. Mentally he groan at the fact that she would be the type to mistake something was going on between them. To his surprise, she didn't look all that angry.

"Ranma...is this... the girl?"

Ranma could tell that Akane was having a hard time grasping the concept of him standing next to a cat girl without freaking out. Nodding, he gestured to a curious Sybil.

"This is the girl I had the... misunderstanding with..."

Akane looked struck before trying to find the words. "How is this even possible? I mean aren't you af-... you know..."

A glare from Ranma let her know that she shouldn't just reveal his secret out of the blue. Surprising enough she actually did conceded to his wish.

"I got... help from the Professor for it," Ranma said tapping at his head to hint to Akane who helped him.

Any hostility that Akane had harbor for Ranma dissipated immediately. "Ah! I... right... that's great. Umm... I have to go to class now, do you think..."

Anything else she might have said was cut off as the bell rung, signaling that class was about to begin.

"Oh no! Ranma, we have to hurry!" Sybil urged as she grabbed Ranma by his wrist and yanked him away.

Ranma groaned as Akane saw the gesture and jealousy flared up in her eyes. He really felt he didn't need the headache right now and happily matched his pace to a surprised Feral.

"Oh, you're a pretty decent runner," Sybil commented as she let go of his arms and she sped to his next classroom.

Soon enough, Ranma was pushed inside a new class and came face with face with Dr. Hank McCoy, the blue beast from the other day.

"Ah, Mr. Saotome, so glad of you to join us!" Beast smiled politely before asking Ranma to take a seat. To his surprise or detriment. The only available seat was last one he'd ever want to take.

"Ranma," Ryoga hissed silently under his breath glaring at the pig tailed boy.

"Pig-Brea, oh wait, you can't turn into a pig anymore can you rocky?" Ranma taunted softly underneath his breath at seeing the formerly pig-boy bristle.

"I dunno what kind of trick you are using on that poor gir-"

"Ahem! Mr. Saotome, Mr. Hibiki, please, this is class time, pay attention," Beast singled out the two now embarrassed boys, much to the amusement of the class. Before he turned around he lightly tapped his ear to let the two know about his advance hearing.

Ironically enough class passed by relatively calmly in despite the hostility between the two boys.

"Well, looks like we are out of time, off you go to your next class then," Beast said just as the bell rung.

"This isn't over Ranma," Ryoga threaten underneath his breath.

"Bring it rubble," Ranma taunted but was surprised when a pink portal opened up in front of him and out came that pink skinned girl.

"Hey Ryoga, ready for your next class?" Blink asked with a friendly smile.

Ryoga suddenly blushed and nodded docilely.

Blink gave Ryoga a winning smile again before tossing a pink ball that expanded into a portal to another class room. "In you go!"

Ryoga obeyed and was followed by Blink, moments later, the portal collapsed.

"Figures," Ranma scoffed at Ryoga latest crush, although he had to admit, if there was one person that could keep up with Ryoga, it would be a girl that can find him no matter where he's was. Walking out, he saw Feral rebound off a wall and land in front of him gracefully.

"Whew, made it in time!"

Ranma had to smile at the girl attitude. "Come on, I think I know where the next class is too, let's see if I can remember it."

"Nope, no time for memory, let's go," Feral responded before tugging at Ranma shoulders for him to follow her.

Third Period to Ranma was much like the other day before, however to his surprise, Celeste didn't make a big of a fuss like yesterday. Although, Ranma was beginning to notice the start of a pattern.

"And that is why he is the biggest asshole Mutankind has ever known."

No sooner had Caliban finished his speech did the bell ring, much to the relief of the student.

"Man, Apocalypse, this, Apocalypse that, I wish he teach something else! Anything else!"

"Could be worse, he could be like Wolverine and go on and on about Magneto."

"Ugh!"

"Wanna head to P.E together since we're in the same class?" Celeste asked Ranma out of the blue, much to his surprised.

"Huh what?"

"P.E, wanna go together?" Celeste offered before sighing. "Forget it."

"Who wha?" Ranma asked stunned. He couldn't be sure but that sounded like a friendly offer. There also didn't seem to be any hidden motive behind it. It left him conflicted even as Sybil arrived to bring him to his next class.

"Let's see, I believe you guys have indoors P.E today," Sybil said looking a sheet of paper and handed it to Ranma. "Here your new schedule, it's like your old one except for your mentoring. I believe you will be joining me for Wolverine class today."

"Oh? What's the difference?" Ranma asked, yesterday obstacle course was pretty fun not anywhere near life threatening but fun. What would the indoor version offer he wondered.

+++P.E +++

Ranma eye twitched at the activity that as going on in front of him.

"Yo Ranma! Come on and play some B-ball with us," Evan waved as he dribble pass a couple of defender and did a quick lay-up.

It was normal. There was no stinging robots, no paint turrets, spike pit, nothing. It was just kids playing basketball, some girls on the bleachers gossiping, there was a volley ball game a little bit away. It was too normal.

"I'll... uh... pass," Ranma said amicably as he noticed that Myst was playing volley ball to great effect. She just floated smoothly from one direction to another. It was all so surreal.

"Come on man, not scared are you nor- Ranma?" The guy who made fun of Ranma yesterday taunted.

To Ranma surprise, there was no real heat, just friendly banter. Judging by the way he was holding himself he seem to be feeling a bit awkward and this was his way of apologizing. Well, the great Ranma Saotome could be magnanimous.

"Sure thing," Ranma replied and walked down toward the bleachers to the court.

"Alright then, the name is Jona," the Suave guy from the day before introduced himself. "And the rules is simple, no powers, strictly normal today."

"Really?" Ranma asked with a raise eye brow as he got onto the court and accepted the olive branch the guys extended to him. "Your funeral man."

"Ohh!" Evan chuckled as he put a fist to his mouth to rag on Jona. "You just got called out!"

"You talk big for a normie," Jona grinned. Standing at six feet two, even without his concussive shot power, he still was athletic. Dribbling the ball slowly in front of Ranma he smirked. "You can be on Evans team since you two like to trash talk so much, you ready?"

Ranma rotated his shoulders a bit before smirking back. "Just waiting on you."

Seeing the nod, Jona tossed the ball to Ranma so that he could start the game as his teammate ran back onto the court holding in a defensive formation. "Talk's cheap, let's see what ya got."

"My pleasure," Ranma said as he passed the ball to Evan to begin the game who than in turn passed it to another person and immediately try for an outside shot that missed.

"Got it!" Another tall guy form Jona's team shouted as he went up for the rebound only to feel a presence right near him. Before his hand could touch the ball for the rebound, another hand shot out first and hit the ball, making it bounce against the goal post and into the basket for a score.

"Whoa!" Evan said wide eyed at what Ranma just done. "Dude!"

"Hey!" Jona protested in shock. "No powers remember?"

Ranma who had scored his first point in that game cockily in replied. "That ain't power, just skill."

"Damn, sick burn!" Evan guffawed at the stunned expression on the other boys face. Oh yeah. Victory was assured today.

+++ Lunch +++

"And just like that, from outside of the Ranma scored another three pointer!" Evans told the story to Myst. The Cuckoos that had decided to sit at their table much to Evans secret delight.

"Skillful." Myst praised the pig tail boy with a smile.

"Very impressive," Phoebe complimented before she daintily ate some more.

"Well, what can I say? I'm the best ya know" Ranma preened after he finished swallowing. While they didn't serve Japanese food here, he didn't mind the rich western style meals.

"Not bad but athletics can only get you so far," Celeste reminded the pig tailed boy. "Still, you boys seem to have made amends."

Ranma and Evan exchanged a look with one another before looking back at Celeste all smiles, even as she rolled her eyes in reply just in time for Sybil to sit down with her own lunch tray next to Myst on the other side of the table.

"I hear Ranma was pretty impressive in gym class today," Sybil started after a quick greeting.

"Well, not bad for, you know a non-mutant," Spyke replied before his eyes widen and looked at Ranma hoping he didn't give offense but Ranma did not appear to take it offensively. "We did have to hold back our powers but, it was very cool what he did."

"Why ya holding back on your powers anyway, thought you were suppose to learn how to use it," Ranma question as he slowly peeled a few oranges above his tray.

"Well, it's a form of control exercise," Sybil explained to Ranma. She was the guide after all. "Most of our powers are out of control, it takes great concentration to rein it in, and to play an adrenaline pumping game like basketball, the amount of control needed to not let your power slip is quite significant."

"Ah," Ranma nodded in understanding. To him it seem like this was just another form of training. Gingerly he offered some of the peeled oranges to Myst who happily nodded her thanks before offering it to everyone else at the table.

"Thank you," Celeste said as she took a few for herself along with her sisters.

Sybil still on her meal declined for now but Evans had no qualms about picking out a lot.

"Too bad me and Beak don't share the same lunch period," Ranma lamented as his palate was finally refreshed.

"Well, there is no helping it," Evan said amicably. He never met Beak but have seen him around. Turning back to Ranma he suddenly looked over to Sybil. "Oh hey, did you hear about what happen with Ranma and Veronica yesterday?"

Sybil looked up from her food even as Ranma groaned in embarrassment. "Oh? What happened?"

"He, heh, heh, he mistook Veronica for you!" Evan laughed through chortled.

"You have to forgive him though, he's color blind," Phoebe explained before a thought occurred to her. "Oh and for your information, Sybil's fur color is blonde, like our hair."

"For the last time, I'm not color blind!" Ranma whirled on Phoebe with his hand outward as if wanting to strangle her. Finally he adjusted his spasming hands and pointed two fingers at the blonde girl. "And it was a mistake!"

"One has black fur, the other is bright gold, that's some mistake," Celeste pointed out noticing that it was causing the boy some distress, which was a plus for her. She was still wearing the band-aid on her forehead!

"It wasn't like that!" Ranma protested as he saw even Myst was giving him a pitying look.

Sybil covered her mouth with her napkin and her body started shuddering.

"Sybil?" Evan asked, worried that he might have said something to offend her. A moment later, he realized he had nothing to worry about as the cat girl started to laugh, pounding her fist on the table. "You alright there?"

"It's actually quite understandable now," Sybil continued to giggle in words. "Let's just say I understand why Ranma would have made that mistake."

"Really?" Evan asked interested. He had asked Ranma yesterday but did not get any reply other then a shrug.

"Before anyone asked it's a secret!" Sybil said before turning the Cuckoo sister. "And don't pry it from my head either or else I will tell Ms. Grey about the invasion of privacy."

"Hey! We weren't!" Irma defensively replied.

"Yeah, the sweating and rapid heartbeats tell me all I need to know," Sybil dryly responded and saw Irma blush.

Ranma flashed Sybil a grateful smile at keeping his secret before he finished his meal. All in all, not a bad day so far.

Which was, of course, when a loud siren sounded with flashing lights. Immediately around him the thick metal steel shutters slide down inside the windows, slamming violently before locking into place.

'Students, this is the Headmaster of the School, Professor Xavier, remain calm and where you are, do not panic. A teacher or a senior elite will be along to guide everyone safely into the safety tunnels.'

Ranma blinked. That was not something announced over the P.A, it was broadcast right inside his head. Looking around, he saw Evan look concern, Sybil already up trying to calm the younger students and Myst floating closer to him. Turning to the Cuckoos he saw once pretty blue eyes now replaced by glowing white eyes.

"Oh dear," Celeste said as her pupil reappeared. "This is not good!"

A hatch then opened right in the middle of the cafeteria grounds with a stair way leading down.

"Alright, kids first!" The Cafeteria lady shouted as the students quickly made way for the younger children before the rest started to stream in.

"What's happening out there?" Sybil asked Celeste who had a worried look on her face.

"You guys over there, quickly!" The lunch lady shouted looking at Ranma group. Myst and Evans were the first one down and just as they were being followed by Sybil the cafeteria wall blew open inward.

"Surprise Charlie! The Juggernaut's back!"

Standing impressively in the entry way of the cafeteria side was Cain Marko, aka, the Juggernaut. The large being looked around in disappointment at not seeing his familiar foes the, X-men. Well, there was always plenty more buildings. Turning around he made a bee line for the adjacent building and bellow the same greeting.

Celeste, who had been stunned by the impact, fluttered her eyes open to see Ranma above her, his arms on either side of her. Normally she would push the boy off thinking he was trying to take advantage but the giant slab of stone on his back pretty much made the situation clear for her. However before she could even asked him what was going on, the boy dropped down a bit so that he was even closer to her their bodies separated by mere centimeters before he pushed up and flipped the stone slab off of him.

_'Celeste, are you okay?_' Irma voice ranged out in Celeste mind.

_'I'm fine, where are you guys?' _Celeste thought back.

_'On the other side of the escape way, the area is lock down,' _Phoebe explained to her. 'Is Ranma with you? He's not here with us.'

_'Yes, he is, we'll try to find another escape route,'_ Celeste thought back before found herself grabbed by Ranma and held bridal style. "Hey what do you think you're doing?!"

"Oh good, you're back, you had that white glowy eye thing going on and weren't responding," Ranma said looking down at the slightly blushing blonde. "You strong enough to stand? You know ya hardly way anything, should eat more."

"You want me to get fat?" Celeste shouted before calming down. "And you can let me down, I am not injured anywhere."

"Cool," Ranma nodded before he set her on her feet. Another large explosion sounded in the distance, making him look outside.

"Well, we should try to make it to a safe area. No one is safe not with the Juggernaut around, although I haven't heard anything about hurting kids like us for a while now," Celeste explained to Ranma.

"The Juggernaut? Who's that?" Ranma asked confused.

"The Juggernaut is Professor X's half-brother who gained his power by magic," Celeste explained quickly as she and Ranma made their way outside to look for a safer place as they heard the Juggernaut attacking other buildings a bit further away. "Somehow he magically gained the power to become super powerful and stuff."

"Magical bullshit? Figures." Ranma snorted at the blonde. "Can't the professor just shut him down easily?"

Now it was Celeste turn to snort. "Oh yeah, along with having super strong powers and stuff, his helmet also blocks telepathic attacks so that's a no go on that idea."

"Really?" Ranma asked, looking interested.

"Yeah, bummer I know!" Celeste said hugging her arms to herself. "Even Magneto has a hel- hey what are you doing put me down!"

Instead of putting the girl down like she requested, Ranma covered her mouth with his hand and jumped to the top of the cafeteria building. It was then he sensed a presence in his mind.

'Put me DOWN!'

Wincing at the volume and the slight attack, he tossed the blonde girl onto her bottom just as the Juggernaut exploded through the adjacent building and passed by the Cafeteria. Silently looking over the edge he look down and the giant being looking around.

"Charles! Where are you hiding coward! If you don't show yourself, I'm gonna wreck your little school!"

Celeste, who had regained her composure, widened her eyes when she heard the voice. Gingerly, she climbed to the edge of the building and also looked down before closing her eyes, attempting to mentally assault the villain, only for the Juggernaut to act like nothing happened.

"Charlie!"

Ranma narrowed his eyes at the being. Judging by size alone, this Juggernaut was as large as Taro's bull form. It was then the being turned his eyes upward and spotted Celeste and him.

"Ah hah! What do we have here, little mice scurrying on top of a sinking ship?" The Juggernaut laughed before destroying a support from the building making the cafeteria structure start to buckle. "Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, you don't care for your precious student Charlie?"

Celeste lost her balance from the impact and grabbed hold of the roof material but to her surprise Ranma still stood on his feet, as if unaffected. It was then something occurred to her. "I don't remember getting us up here."

"It was-"

Anything Ranma wanted to say was cut off as a guttural growl was heard below them. Looking down, Ranma saw Wolverine cutting at this Juggernaut over and over again with his metal claws but to no avail. He was soon joined by another person, covered entirely in metal, who threw a powerful right hook at the larger being, causing him to stagger back.

Any retaliation from the Juggernaut was stopped when a powerful red beam fired into him, tipping him further off balance, making him drop on his back. Immediately, the clear sky became gloomy and overcast, causing Ranma to look up to see the Storm gathering the storm clouds to her. Seconds later, she unleashed a powerful lightning bolt at this Juggernaut.

"Hah! That tickles!"

As if shrugging off most of their attacks, the being got back onto his feet and with a back hand swipe, struck the incoming Wolverine, sending him slamming into a wall.

"Try this one for size!"

Suddenly, the being started to run toward Cyclops at incredible speed, despite Storm continuously striking him with lightning in conjunction to Cyclops' eyebeam. However, just as the behemoth was almost upon the one-eyed X-Man, there was a large surge of something that pushed the Juggernaut off-course, causing him to miss his target by a wide margin.

"What just happened?" Ranma eyes analyzed the fight. There was nothing sloppy that was going on at all, this was pure team work, when one fell, another would cover the gap to maintain a strong front against this monster of a foe.

"I think that last one was a telekinetic attack by Ms. Grey or Ms. Frost," Celeste replied her eyes also glued to the fight. Hey eyes turned white a second later, linking into the hive mind with her sisters to share what she was watching. "While a mind attack won't work, the ability to move him around, if your will power is strong enough, can."

Suddenly, from another building, Shadowcat appeared just as the Juggernaut was turning around and phased half of his body into the ground, causing Ranma eyes to widen. A moment later, Psylocke appeared, a pyschi knife jutting out of her fist and stabbed Juggernaut in the mouth with it.

"Arrghghhh!" the Juggernaut shouted in pain before forced his way out of the ground knocking both Shadowcat and Psylocke away.

However, no sooner had he gotten free was Wolverine on him again, followed by Cyclops and Storm's lighting attack.

"You are all GNATS!" the Juggernaut started to scream in frustration.

"You picked the wrong damn time to try and attack us bub!" Wolverine threatened as he repeatedly cut into the Juggernaut's fast healing flesh.

"And you almost brought harm to our students!" Pitor, Codename: Colossus shouted as he continued to pummel their enemy.

It was then the Juggernaut felt himself suddenly suspended into the air. From the other building, Emma Frost, dressed in a sexy white pants suit and Jean Grey, in casual t-shirt and jeans, came out, the look of concentration on their faces letting everyone know that it was they who was suspending the Juggernaut in midair.

"Wolverine, Psylocke, anytime now!" Jean shouted even as she willed herself to hold the powerful brute in check.

"Right Jeannie," Wolverine growled as he jumped onto the Juggernaut's back and cut at the other edge of the helmet and propped it open. "Just like a tuna can."

No sooner has Wolverine opened up the Juggernaut's helmet did Psylocke climb up on top of now worried man. "I hope this hurts a lot." The pretty purple hair woman said as she stabbed her psychic knife directly into Cain Marko's head making him scream in pain before falling limp.

To their surprise, moments later a ruby like gem emerged from the Juggernaut chest and fell harmlessly onto the ground. It appeared cracked and fractured as if damage from overuse.

None too gently, Emma Frost and Jean Grey released their grip on the behemoth, letting him fall unceremoniously to the ground. No one said anything as everyone took some time to bask in the glow of victory.

It was then Emma Frost turned her heard and sensed her protégé nearby with the new human boy. Jean sensed the same thing as she located Ranma and Celeste on the roof, even as Professor X gave the entire student body the update on what happened.

+++ After Lunch +++

After Storm came and picked him and Celeste off the roof, the school students, amazingly enough, went on with their classes as if everything nothing had happened, with the McCoy repair bots starting repairs on the school while class was held. Ranma, for once, was in awe at how causally the student body had taken this. Upon questioning Phoebe in sixth period, he found out that the school get attacked every now and then by high power beings.

Ranma couldn't help but grin that he was no longer the center of crazy and the sole propriety of Crazy Inc! The X-men had that in spades! If he was lucky, maybe some of the craziness that usually went his way would go to the Xavier institute instead!

When the bell rung, he saw Phoebe gave him a quick smile before heading out to her class. Right by the door way was Sybil, waiting for him to come to his first mentoring class. The one hosted by Wolverine.

"Hi, Ranma you ready?" Sybil smiled inquisitively at Ranma. She had been concern that seeing the attack on the school might have scared him off, but was glad that he did not seem fazed by it.

"Sure, let's go," Ranma nodded packing up his book bags.

Following Sybil, he noticed that a few more savage looking students also ended up walking with him. Glancing from the corner of his eyes, he saw a boy that look like he was Tarzan sniffing at the air before gazing at him. Seeing Ranma's look, the boy let out a low growl at Ranma before hunching and walking ahead of him.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Savage is always weary of new comers," Sybil explained in an apologetic tone.

"Sybil," a black furred cat girl greeted the golden furred cat girl pleasantly but upon seeing Ranma, her demeanor immediately cooled, suggesting that she was none too happy with seeing Ranma there.

"Ronnie!" Sybil greeted happily before she remembered what happened between Ranma and her friend. Pulling her friend to a side she whispered softly, taking care not to reveal Ranma's fear of cats.

"Oh," Veronica said softly before looking at Ranma. "I guess if it was an honest mistake..."

Anything else she wanted to say was cut off as they entered a glass room, with at least fifteen other students sitting at a desk, looking at a grumpy looking hairy man glaring at all of them.

"Ah, kid, ya got me first eh?" Wolverine greeted Ranma as soon as he walked in. "Just to let you know, you should have picked the other option. I ain't changing my method for nobody."

"Fine by me," Ranma agreed with a cocky smile. He saw Wolverine looked at him strangely before revealing a toothy smile.

"That's the attitude kid!" Wolverine smirked before counting all thirty of his student present. "Right then, let's get to today lesson."

Ranma took a seat in the back to observe the lesson and noted that Sybil took a desk right next to him. While half paying attention to Wolverine's lecture, Ranma noticed that most of the student seemed wild. There was no way else to describe them. There were some with bird feathers on them but no wings, some with fur like Sybil, others with claw-like hands. If he had to guess he would assume that they had been given advanced animal traits seeing as how the boy form earlier, Savage, sniffed at the air. He idly wondered if it included seeing in the dark too.

"Our greatest advantage is our instinct, but it can also work against us, since our instinct always tells us to attack!"

As if to emphasize the point, Wolverine smacked the black board with his hand, startling the students. He then began to draw one X followed by a bunch of O's in different spots.

"Now tell me, what should be your first instinct if a Ninja Master confronts you head on?"

Right in front of the X was a newly drawn O.

"Get him before he can throw his damn ninja stars!" a pointy eared scruffy looking boy suggested without raising his hand.

"Wrong! Anyone else wanna take a guess?" Wolverine shot down, not caring that the boy was deflating.

"You lay an ambush!" Another boy that Ranma recognized as Croc answered hopefully.

"You'll end up dead," Wolverine told the boy before looking for more volunteers.

"Hide and wait for him to pass?" Sybil asked after having raised her hand politely.

"Wrong again. This is when your instinct can become a liability. Now think about the situation you are in for a moment," Wolverine pointed out while he looked at the student expectantly.

The other students knew that Sybil was the smartest out of all of them so when she guessed wrong, the rest became uncertain.

"You run," Ranma spoke up surprising the class. He noticed that Wolverine had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Now why would you do that Saotome?" Wolverine asked in a neutral tone.

Ranma looked around and noticed that the rest of the class was looking at him, some of the bigger animal-like boys even snigger at him. "Well, I mean isn't it obvious? It's because you're already in their trap."

"Explain your reasoning," Wolverine spoke up but there was a hint of satisfaction in his tone causing the rest of the class to look over to their teacher.

"You mean he got it right? We run away?" Croc asked incredulously.

"Let him explain," Wolverine answered while looking at Ranma.

"Well," Ranma began looking at the class; he couldn't believe they didn't know this. "I mean it's obvious ain't it? Ninjas are trained to be sneaky so if a ninja master shows themselves, it would only be as bait for a trap."

The class was stunned into silence and even Sybil was look at Ranma in a different light.

"That's right!" Wolverine crowed happily. "If you see a Ninja master, RUN, if you hunt a ninja master then you better make sure all of his lackeys are defeated first. Good job Saotome!"

"It's no biggie," Ranma shrugged feeling that this class was going to be easy for him.

+++Blackbird Hanger +++

The private stealth plane of Xavier institute was warming up as a group of people could be seen gathering at the base of its loading steps.

"You got Marko strapped in tight?" Cyclops asked his friend Hank.

"Maximum grade bond use by Ryker's Prison, they'll last for a bit," Hank McCoy answered as he finished putting the last clamp across the Juggernaut's broad chest.

"Any idea why that gem fell out of him yet?" Jean asked her friend.

"What did the analysis came back as Jean?" Cyclops asked his wife who merely gave him a curt nod. He felt his heart tighten at the gesture but could only bear it. They had finally talked shortly before finding Saffron, about Emma and his ambiguous relationship, about their marriage, about what they were looking for and who they were now.

"Hmm, just an ordinary ruby," Jean pursed her lips. Contrary to Scott current emotional state, she never felt more free. The constant jealously on her part, having to spy on her husband, trying to rekindle their love, all of it was now over. It had surprised her when she found that she couldn't feel the same type of love she felt for him so long ago. They had grown apart through the years and had merely been clinging onto one another as a safety net. So now, Jean found herself feeling oddly liberated. Though it's not like she was going to forgive Emma for butting in any anytime soon, but it was needed.

"Yeah, pull the other one," Kitty spoke up trying to break up the awkward atmosphere that always seemed to be present when Jean and Scott tried to talk with one another. "There's something fishy about that gem."

"Well, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents will be here shortly to pick it up. Emma, Hank, Pitor, the Professor, Storm, Kitty and I will escort Marko here to Ryker's," Cyclops spoke up, knowing that Jean would want to stay behind for that baby mutant they found.

"Let's get a move on then," The Professor, who had remained silent up until now, spoke up. "If we are lucky, we can finish filling out the form before dinner."

Jean and the girls smiled at their mentor's comment. "Well, you better. I do believe Paige and Betty are making some British dish."

The Professor paled upon hearing that and turned to his first pupil. "Maybe we can order take out Scott."

"My thoughts exactly," Cyclops responded in a grave tone. Everyone knew that Psylocke's cooking left a lot to be desired.

Grinning at his students, the group loaded the defeated Juggernaut onto the Blackbird and was gone within minutes.

Jean watched as the Blackbird turned into speck in the sky before she turned to see Psylocke walking up to her with a container in hand.

"They gone?" Psylocke asked her friend before tossing the container to her friend.

Catching it lightly Jean was about to reply when she felt a familiar presence closing in her. Moments later a haggard Kiima flew into the hanger bay carrying a bubbly baby phoenix. Upon spotting her the baby cooed happily in her direction. Jean couldn't help but smile at the baby's antics and easily took the baby into her arms, having Kiima hold the canister.

"Abooboobooboo!" Jean babbled for the amusement of the baby in her arms. She had to wonder if maybe the reason why she was doing so well from her separation with Scott was due to this baby filling up the gap in her heart.

The baby in reply appeared to gurgle happily in response before his eyes darted pass her shoulder. Turning around, Jean spotted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s transport craft stealthily enter the hanger. A few second later a hatch opened and out came Maria Hill, Nick Fury's right hand "man".

"Hill," Jean greeted cordially. The woman before her had short cropped hair with a no-nonsense attitude and demeanor.

"Grey," Maria Hill responded coolly before looking at the container in the winged woman's arm. A moment later, she held the container in her hand and looked at the cracked gem. "Has it been decontaminated?"

"By S.H.I.E.L.D's standard on Hank orders," Jean replied and watched as the woman took out a device and popped opened container. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to see if this is just a worthless cracked ruby or something more," Maria Hill stated as she put the energy reading device, created by Reed Richards on the gem. However, as soon as she popped the lid, the gem shot out from the canister and in the direction of Jean Grey. Whipping her pistol out smoothly, she aimed it Jean's direction only to be horrified when she saw the gem was stuck on the chest of a winged mutant infant.

Jean was horrified, one moment Saffron was cooing happily at her, the next he was screaming in pain as the gem cracked gem had somehow embedded itself into his chest. Ignoring the gun pointed in her direction, Jean automatically tried to telekinetically pry the gem from Saffron's chest only to feel something akin to a spark being lit.

++++ School Grounds+++

Many students across the school were with their mentors when a massive explosion rocked their school grounds.

"What was that?" Beak asked as he looked out the windows to see what was going on. He was in a class filled with students who had not yet identified their powers. Their teacher was Forge, who was good at analyzing skill sets and abilities.

"I don't know," Forge replied in a worried tone and hit his wrist communicator. "Forge to labs, anyone know that what that was?"

To the student's growing concern, there was no reply to their teacher's inquiry.

"Ok, we should go to the safe shelter just in case," Forge prompted immediately, knowing that something was wrong. A moment later he was right as a massive pillar of fire at least 10 meters in diameter erupted from the hanger area.

"Cool~" Beak muttered in an amazed tone.

TBC...

AN: Well, I was finish with that web novel a lot sooner then I thought I'd be! So we back on this for now! I figure a view from Ranma of what the x-men were capable of would be more fun. Other than that, this chapters speaks for itselfs I believe, thanks for reading!

Quick notes, yes those are the new mutants in that breakfast scene and yes they are wearing pink and yellow. I saw their pictures with that and quite liked it.

As always C+C welcome, reviews appreciated.


	5. Orientation: Part Four

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

Special thanks to , Death, Mingyu and Cheeser for doing this chapter! You guys rock!

Special Update: Just to answer some question. People say Emma Frost and the Cuckoo doesn't have Telekinetic. The Cuckoo do, and Emma Frost has it but weaker. Look it up :D

Homo Superior

Orientation: Part Four

**** Xavier Institute for Higher Learning****

The moment the pillar of fire erupted, the teachers began to usher their students toward the underground levels for safety. In this day and age most of the schools in New York City have such an emergency contingency plan. After all, if it was not an alien invasion one week it would be a super powered slug fest the next.

Inside Ranma's class, Wolverine looked out the window and narrowed his eyes. "You guys know where the emergency bunkers are. Let the children go first, then go through. And stay there, got it?!"

With that, Wolverine jumped through the window and ran toward the center of the fire.

"Ranma, let's go!" Sybil tugged on the pigtailed boy's sleeve, pulling him with her. She could already see students rushing down the hall, as well as the walls, and getting in line to take the emergency elevator down to the lower levels.

"Children first!" Strong Guy reminded just as another large detonation rocked the school grounds.

Ranma watched chaos unfold with a bit of fascination. He wouldn't say they were panicking, but it still seemed disorderly as the elevators continued to be loaded with students.

"Wow another attack, can you believe it?"

"Man! This is way too soon, I hope the library is well protected this time, I got a report due!"

"Hah, I hope the school takes a lot of damage! That way we can get some free time!"

"Idiot!"

Another loud detonation was heard as the school grounds were once again rocked to the very foundation by a miniature earthquake. Luckily, the elevators were working at full capacity, and what was once a very crowded hallway now contained less than fifty students waiting on the next ride. Among them were some familiar faces to Ranma.

"You should have went first with the others," One of the Cuckoo sisters said upon spotting Ranma.

"Yeah, it could be dangerous for you," Celeste agreed, looking at the boy she had shared a dangerous situation with earlier.

Once again, it was the band-aid on her forehead that let Ranma identify her. "Thanks but no thanks. I can take care of myself."

"Look, I'm sure you're great and all, but from what Psylocke told us, there's a crazy mutant on the loose!" Phoebe condescendingly replied. "You're getting on the next one."

"Yeah right," Ranma snorted as he looked at the delicate looking girls. "And what make you girls so much more durable?"

The three Cuckoos looked at one another before nodding and turned into diamonds in front of a very surprised Ranma.

"What the, is that real?!" Ranma asked and, without thinking, grabbed onto Celeste's arms and started to thumb her diamond skin.

"Hey!" Celeste yelled, half-shocked at the boy's behavior, and pulled her arms away. "Hands to yourself!"

"Oh shit, sorry," Ranma jumped back immediately as he realized that they were girls to begin with, however before him were real life walking, talking diamonds. "That's some bullshit right there, being able to attack minds while being impervious to any attacks yourselves."

"Ah, actually," Irma coughed lightly into her hand and ignored the look from Celeste to keep the next bit of info from the pigtailed boy. "When we are in our diamond form we can't use our telepathy powers."

"Really?" Ranma asked as the girls all reverted back to human form, looking a bit tired.

"Yeah," Phoebe nodded. "However it takes a bit of concentration to stay in that form."

"Ms. Frost would know more," Irma elaborated before another detonation rocked the building they were in, causing little specks of dust to fall in various spots.

A thought occurred to Ranma that made him smirk in amusement. He looked at the triplets even as the latest elevator was filled and the students in it went on their way down. "Don't ever let a girl named Nabiki see you in that form. Seriously, if you see her, run away."

The triplets gave Ranma a confused look but before they could ask him to elaborate, a detention violently rocked the building they were in, causing the roof of the school to collapse down on the remaining students. Instantly the Cuckoos linked up in their hive mind and diverted as much of the falling debris as possible, mainly above themselves and the other students, but they couldn't get everything.

"Ranma, watch out!" Sybil reacted instantly as she pounced on top of the human boy covering him with her body to protect him from the falling debris. She closed her eyes to wait for pain only to feel none. Opening one of her eyes she noticed that there was a green dome around the area they were in with the debris piled up on the other side.

"It's okay ladies, Hellion's here," a handsome boy with dark hair announced cockily through gritted teeth as green energy flowed from his hand to maintain the barrier.

"Julian!" Sybil exclaimed in relief. The handsome heir to the Keller fortune smiled at her reassuringly.

"Uh, Sybil..." Ranma said from beneath the feline girl. Sure he could have just gotten up, but he felt that it would have been more polite to give her a warning before he did so. After all she was his guide.

"Oh!" Sybil blushed as she got up on her feet and grabbed the pigtailed boy by his shoulders to help him to his feet.

"Lovely Cuckoos, if you would please clear the debris from the barrier, it would be a big load off my shoulders," Hellion remarked casually.

"Right," the Triplets said in stereo as the debris on top of the barrier was floated off to the side.

Ranma looked at the triplet's faces, which were eerily synchronized as their eyes became a clear white with blue power glowing within them. He looked up to see the broken metal beams and sheetrock being slowly nudged off the barrier. Looking back down, he noticed the girls' were starting to sweat where as the new guy became less strained as more debris was removed. He wondered if there was a correlation between the mass of an object and the amount of power it took to move it.

"Almost there," Hellion encouraged the girls, starting to tire from keeping several tons of debris from falling on them.

When the last of the debris were cleared from above the remaining students, Hellion dropped his telekinetic force field, panting from the exertion.

However, the moment Hellion dropped his shield, a rush of warm air brushed past the students as they took a good look at their surroundings.

"Whoa!" Irma gasped as she looked at the school ground which seemed to be a fiery inferno now. "What's happening?"

"Elevator's not working!" a teen student with a green skin panicked as he started to punch at the buttons over and over again.

"Shit!" Hellion cursed. He was the elite; he was supposed to look out for them. "Let's see if the one by the pool area is still working."

"Good idea," Celeste nodded as she got into her elite student mode and followed Julian's lead. Everyone knew that after them, Ms. Frost quite liked Julian and had high hopes for him. Of course, it didn't hurt that he was extremely good looking and rich.

The other two Cuckoos looked at each other and followed after their sister as the other students followed Hellion.

Sybil made to follow Julian as well when she saw Ranma standing in place, looking at the inferno with a mysterious expression on his face. Putting her hand on his shoulder she nudged him softly. "Come on Ranma, let's go."

"Hmm? Go where now?" Ranma asked as he tore his gaze away from the burning buildings. At seeing the rest of the students moving away from him his eyes lit up in understanding. "Right, let's go."

"Something wrong?" Sybil asked in a low whisper at her charge. Naturally, she meant about him and not the burning school grounds at the moment.

"I dunno. It's like..." Ranma trailed off. He threw a look behind his shoulders at the scene before catching up to the group. Turning to Sybil he shook his head to let her know that everything was okay.

Just as the students turned the corner approaching the massive gym and pool building, Bobby Drake, or Iceman, skied past. A look of alarm appeared on his face when he saw them. "Get to the emergency elevators now! Hellion, after they're done, you and the Cuckoos meet at Beta point."

"Got it," Hellion and the Cuckoos responded to retreating figure of Bobby Drake. "Alright kids, you all heard him, let's go!"

"I can help," Sybil spoke up. "I'm a senior member and though I never went on any missions, I am still back-up for the elites."

Hellion looked at the blonde cat girl carefully, making her blush, before smiling at her. "Okay fine, but you follow my orders alright?"

"Where are the rest?" Celeste asked curiously as they found the elevator and began to put the first group of students inside.

"Some of them are already helping in the fight against that... monster already," Hellion face darkened. "I saw some of the shots were heading toward the school and was ordered by Psylocke to help protect the students."

"Who's attacking us this time?" Sybil asked curiously. The only place that had a lot of fire users was Genosha and they had an unofficial peace treaty with Magneto.

"No clue, never seen him on any dossier before," Hellion replied as he waited for the elevator to return. "But he's tough. Took my strongest attack point blank but he just got back up like the Terminator."

Before any other question could be asked a flaming figure suddenly shot into the pool, causing water to splash everywhere. Hellion, with his hands ready, charged up his attack and closed in on the pool only to be surprised when a burnt figure emerged from the pool, eliciting screams from the girls.

"RAGGGHHH!" The charred corpse roared before collapsing at the edge of the pool. It was only when Hellion saw the three metal blades sticking out of the still breathing figure's knuckles that he knew it was Wolverine.

Sybil had to cover her nose and mouth with her sleeve to keep from gagging on the smell of her burnt teacher.

The Cuckoos were not as lucky as Irma turned around and threw up her lunch while Celeste and Phoebe looked green.

Before anyone could calm down, the figure of Iceman smashed through the gym, his body seemed to be melting somewhat and he was breathing hard. "Run!" he shouted upon seeing the kids before passing out

Hellion turned around and eyes widen. "Oh shit!" He shouted as he raised his hand up and formed a large telekinetic barrier to block an incoming attack. The attack, a giant ball of fire, impacted his shield and exploded, causing him mental duress due to maintaining the defensive barrier.

"Julian!" Sybil sprinted over to the boy and tackled him out of the way of the next attack which detonated behind her. Looking up she finally got a good look at their attacker but couldn't recognize him as anyone from the X-men rogue gallery.

Hovering above the ground, looking almost like an angel of death, was a winged man with long, flowing, white hair that looked to be in his early twenties. He was surrounded by dancing flames that seemed to ignite the air around him. However it was the look in his eyes that scared Sybil the most. It was feral, as if he was functioning on instinct alone. His chest was embedded with a tiny cracked jewel, a reddish energy seem to be traveling outward from the gem into his entire body.

"We gotta get out of here," Hellion urged Sybil as he got ready to charge another attack, only to see the being had stopped and was looking at something on the ground. Tracing the being's sight path he saw it was looking at the foreign boy, the Flatscan student if he wasn't mistaken. To his surprise, the Flatscan was staring back fearlessly at the fire user. "Hey, you! Get out of here!"

Sybil saw Hellion's warning came too late as the winged creature gave a feral scream and dive bombed toward Ranma at incredible speed. "Ranma!"

The Cuckoos reacted slower, having been prepared to defend Hellion and not Ranma. They quickly fired off a massive telepathic attack at the being, intending to destroy his mind, only to find that there was nothing there. Their hearts dropped as one as they tried to use a telekinetic attack, but the delay from the first attack had already slowed them down.

"Ranma!" The Triplets shouted an urgent warning even as they tried to stop the winged creature.

Hellion fired at full force anyway, hoping to knock the winged being off course, but saw the bird man had simply evaded the attack and was almost upon the Flatscan when something unexpected happened.

Ranma had thought the fire attack looked familiar but Saffron was a baby, there was no way he could have been responsible. However, the Saffron before him was clearly not a baby. That didn't matter however, as this Saffron recognized Ranma upon laying eyes on him. There was a familiar flash of hatred before Saffron dove toward him and he would be on top of him in seconds. Noticing the wall a few feet from him, Ranma spring-boarded off it and smashed his fist directly into Saffron's jaw, making him jackknife from the change in momentum. Not finished, Ranma spun in midair, grabbed Saffron's hair, and in the same movement kneed him hard in the face before finishing the attack off with a Meteor Kick, sending the Phoenix king flying away before he landed lightly on his feet and turned around just in time to see the elevator ding open.

There was stunned silence in the yard, with the students and elites not sure how to react. It was the Cuckoos who recovered first.

"What-" a stunned Irma began.

"-The-" an amazed Phoebe continued.

"-Fuck?" the confused Celeste finished, looking at the supposed non-mutant in a new light.

Sybil could only nod in agreement at the outburst. Ranma was supposed to be a normal human, wasn't he?

Hellion was thinking someone must have made a big fucking mistake, because if this foreigner wasn't a mutant then he'd have to be a superhuman at least.

"Guys, the elevator, get in!" Ranma pointed for the remaining students to go in, leaving only the Cuckoos, Sybil and Hellion outside. "Okay then-huh?"

"Ranma!" Sybil screamed in horror as a large fireball slammed into the spot where Ranma had been standing, engulfing that area in flames.

The Cuckoos themselves had immediately turned into their diamond forms as a defensive measure. They too were shocked by the sudden death of a boy they hardly knew when something odd happened. There was a small blue-hued tendril of energy that emerged before the fire was snuffed out, as if someone blew on a candle. At the center of the impacted area was a slightly singed Ranma.

"Oh you fucker," Ranma spat as he saw the Phoenix Lord fly higher into the air. That damn fire attack stung pretty fierce. Still, looking at everyone around him, it looked like he would have to try and put down Saffron a second time. "Time to clip your wings."

The moment Ranma said that, he slashed his arm through the air. Hellion looked from the slash to the winged mutant and saw the left wing of the mutant bisected in midair, causing the being to fall to the ground. "What the fuck?!"

Ranma rushed into the foresedt area where Saffron fell with a determined expression on his face. He was going to go full force early on. Besides, Saffron can resurrect so it wasn't like he was actually killing him.

No sooner had Ranma left than another winged woman showed up, this one familiar to Hellion, as he had seen her around the Danger Room and next to Mrs. Grey. "Ms. Kiima?"

"Julian, are you alright?" Kiima's concern for the boy stopped her pursuit of her lord. Once again, her Lord was loose and the mortals were feeling his wrath. Only this time it was because of a magical gem that had binded itself to him.

"I'm fine," Julian replied as he waved off the woman concern. "Where is everyone else? The new guy went in after that mutant alone!"

"New guy?" Kiima repeated before her eyes widened. "Did this new boy have a pigtail? Perhaps also wearing Chinese style clothing?"

"Yeah, that's Ranma," Phoebe spoke up while looking at the winged woman that she had seen occasionally accompanying Ms. Grey.

"Oh no!" Kiima gasped out in horror. "I have to stop him! Which way did he go?"

"Stop him from doing what?" Celeste was getting very tempted to read the woman's mind.

"Stop him from killing Lord Saffron again!" Came Kiima's panicked reply.

"Kill?" Hellion asked in alarm. Was the new person that dangerous?

"Ms. Kiima, is Saffron is the name of the winged mutant that caused all of this destruction?" Sybil hesitantly asked. Naturally, being a guide she knew about the new addition to the X-Family.

"Yes..." Kiima replied sadly as she looked upon the devastation of the lovely estate. "If Ranma kills my Lord again, he might stay dead permanently this time."

"Again?" Celeste asked incredulously. "You mean Ranma fought that mutant before?"

"Yes," Kiima answered sadly.

"How?" Celeste and her sisters boggled.

Before anyone could ask any more questions, there was a series of detonations in the forest followed by a large fiery sea of flame burning through the forest and making its way toward them, only to be abruptly snuffed out instantly as a tornado formed inside the forest.

"Lord Saffron and Lord Ranma," Kiima whispered before flying toward the tornado itself.

Sybil and the rest looked at one another before turning back to the forest.

"What are we waiting for?" Celeste said as she began walking into the forest, in diamond form. "We can't let him take that thing on alone."

"Wait for me!" Sybil called after the sisters.

"Can't leave the ladies unprotected," Hellion reasoned, as he went to support his possible future teammates. Besides, girls loved heroic guys.

As they were trained, the group ran into the forest even as the winged woman flew above them. Suddenly the tornado that had formed in the forest weakened, its thick cloud dissipated. One could even start to see gaps along the vortex body, enabling them to see directly into it's calm eye.

Through the thinning smoke, Sybil's superhuman eyes were able to pick out Ranma and she signaled to her teammates. Following her line of sight, they all saw the figure of the pigtailed boy locked in savage combat with the winged mutant. Only Sybil's eyes could see that Ranma's shirt had been torn in various places and stained red in various places, a clear sign that he had been harmed.

"Come on," Hellion commanded as he forged ahead, his hands glowing with his power, ready to unleash it again.

The moment they reached the clearing, they saw two bodies crash into the ground. Where once should have been thick forest trees standing proudly, were now broken charred trunks, snapped off from their roots as if they were little more than matchsticks.

Hellion charged his powers while Sybil tensed her body, preparing to attack. The Cuckoos linked their minds together, reaching for the debris around them so that they could hurl it as a weapon.

A moment later however, the tornado fully dissipated and in its center was Ranma on the back of the winged being. The benign boy they had only known for a short while had his arm across the winged being's throat in a choke hold while he used his free arm to pull the back of his opponent's head upwards. Everyone could clearly see that the winged mutant was in pain, while the supposedly normal boy's hair seemed out of place. There were even several shallow cuts on his cheeks and multiple wound that look like claw scratches on his arms. What Ranma did next shocked the students and distressed the bird-like woman greatly. There was a sickening crack as Ranma violently twisted the being's head, making the mutant go limp in his arms before he let it go.

"Wh-Why did you do that?!" Hellion yelled half in shock, half in anger at the cold-blooded murder. Sybil had to take a step back, looking at Ranma in a different light and even the Cuckoos felt the same.

Ranma rose off the corpse and looked at the newcomers, blinking in surprise, not expecting them to have been there. "You guys shouldn't be here!" he warned. He quickly eyed the corpse, which began to twitch.

"What-What's going on?" Celeste asked, seeing fire engulf the corpse then erupt upward before dissipating to reveal the same crazed winged mutant from earlier. "Wait, didn't he just die?!"

"That's the third time I managed to snap his neck," Ranma grit his teeth as he moved in front of the group of mutant teens. To be able to maneuver himself in a position to inflict heavy damage on Saffron was no easy feat, so he had decided to go with sure kill shots right away to see if it would end the fight quicker. Truth be told, without Akane, Ryoga and the right set of circumstances, he might have ended up dead. Thankfully a fight is never predictable and he came out on top, though barely. This time he wouldn't pull any of his punches, having taken the measure of his opponent before. Looking to the group, he answered their inquiry, seeing the disturbed looks on their faces.

"Something like that won't kill him, just slow him down. The guy can regenerate from any damage and get back up."

"Then how do you stop him?" Hellion asked the boy, who seemed to know more about this mutant's abilities than anyone else. Seeing the other mutant look ready to attack fired a powerful shot at the being and sent him deeper into the forest.

"You idiot!" Ranma whirled on the taller boy. "You just gave him more fuel to burn!"

Just as Ranma finished yelling, a wall of fire shot towards them. Hellion instantly set up a protective barrier around the group and saw the Cuckoos doing the same, but to their surprise, Ranma jumped over the barrier and ran headfirst into the fire.

"Ranma!" Sybil cried out in alarm, only to gasp in surprise a moment later when the entire sea of flame appeared to be sucked into a newly formed cyclone. In front of the cyclone was Ranma with his fist raised triumphantly into the air. Was Ranma a wind user like Wind Dancer? A moment later, the pigtailed boy grabbed a very large boulder and hurled it inside of the vortex. He then proceeded to break a charred tree into smaller pieces and quickly throwing it into the wind wall.

"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked as she watched the colorblind boy throw objects into the newly created tornado.

"Trying to puree the bastard," Ranma replied as he continued to throw debris into the vortex.

"Lord Ranma," Kiima, rushed over to Ranma and spoke up in an urgent tone. "Lord Ranma, Lord Saffron is not himself. Please, I beg of you, you have to help him!"

Ranma stopped throwing the surrounding debris into the cyclone and looked at his deadliest enemy's second-in-command with an incredulous expression. "Me? Help him? For what? What are you even talking about?"

"I know what you're thinking, but it is not my Lord's fault! He was forced into this state by that gem on his chest," Kiima pleaded with her Lord's deadliest foe. "He didn't do this to himself, this is not a repeat of Jusendo, please, help him..."

The fact that Ranma had carried things that only strong-type mutants should have been able to pick up as well that the winged woman and Ranma had a history was not lost on the mutant teens.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up, time out. Can someone fill us in here?" Irma asked, moving her head between Ranma and Kiima. "Like this century preferably."

Ranma cupped his chin before giving it some thought and explained in as short of a manner as possible. "Long story short, I beat Saffron, the guy in the tornado, a month back. Now he's back again, somehow."

"Okay, that was way too short," Celeste rebuked but anything else she wanted to say was cut off as the tornado started to take on a reddish hue.

"Oh fuck me," Ranma said in shock as he saw what was happening and turned to the others. "Take cover now!"

Ranma noticed the Cuckoos had turned to diamond and taken up hiding spots. Feral had grabbed the pretty boy, which left him with Kiima as he smashed into the phoenix woman and sprinted into the forest even as his Hiryu Shoten Ha blew apart, sending debris flying everywhere .

From Ranma's arms, Kiima looked over his shoulder and saw some small pebbles smash into the human boy's back, causing him to grunt in pain but otherwise maintaining a steady hold on her. A moment later, she saw her crazed Lord in with ugly gashes all over his body sweeping his gaze around the area, no doubt looking for them.

"Ok, talk now, what happened? I know it can't be Jusendo and I gave both the Kinjakan and the Gekkaja to the old woman," Ranma spoke under his breath hurriedly, the energy need to maintain the Soul of Ice was taxing to maintain for long, so the sooner he knew what exactly went wrong, the sooner he could end the fight.

Nodding at the boy's question, Kiima explained things to him quickly. "There is a gem embedded on my lord's chest, a cracked ruby. For whatever reason, it is powering my Lord and has accelerated his growth. Lady Jean believe's that the Gem is feeding my Lord power so that his power can repair the cracks in return."

"And where's Jean?" Ranma asked in concern for his caretaker/maybe friend. "Is she alright? Did he hurt her?"

"Though my Lord had returned to a primal state, he did not harm Lady Jean other than knocking her unconscious," Kiima replied quickly to alleviate the pig-tailed boy's fear.

"And you?" Ranma asked eyeing the winged woman in his arms.

Kiima looked to her side even as her lord began to hurl large fireballs into the forest in an attempt to flush out his prey. "My lord completely ignored my presence, even when I... attacked him." She lowered her head in shame.

"Then that means he knows who we are then. No wonder he came after me," Ranma muttered under his breath before looking down at the bird woman again. "Wish I could just kill him the same damn way like before, but the conditions ain't right..."

Kiima eyes widened at what Ranma said and shivered. "If you did kill my Lord in that manner again, I'm afraid even he wouldn't survive the second time..." she half-pleaded.

Ranma looked down at the woman in alarm. "He can't just come back to life again?"

"As far as I know, he had only been near death before reverting to his egg state. Being outright killed had never happened until you achieved it and even then, it was sheer luck that he did not end up permanently dead," Kiima explained softly. She then turned her eyes up and pleaded to the powerful boy. "We have no way of knowing if he would resurrect again when killed. Please, I beg of you, save him."

"Fu..." Ranma blew a breath upward against his bangs. He wasn't going to tell her that he had already tried to create the Hiryu Hyou-Toppa, but failed as there was simply not enough heat saturating the area for that to happen. So his next step was to lure Saffron away from the school and contain him here until he could figure out how to deal with him. Looking down at the girl in his arms he latched onto one possibility of ending this fight. "So, weird gem in his chest, you say?"

Kiima nodded hopefully before Ranma set her down.

"Look after the others," Ranma requested before he charged right out into the open and began to taunt the Lord of Jusendo. "Yo, Birdbrain, over here ya flying sack of sh-whoa!"

Ranma words were interrupted when Saffron created a boulder-sized fire ball and launched it at the pigtailed boy, engulfing the surrounding area in flames.

Before he was even hit by Saffron's attack, Ranma fired off two vacuum blades to cut off Saffron's wings at their connecting joints, making him fall from the sky.

"Gotcha Fucker."

Ranma closed the distance between them instantly. Using his forward momentum he did a flying spear kick and planted both of his feet into the falling phoenix's stomach, smashing him against a thick tree trunk. To his surprise, Saffron's hand lashed out even as Ranma's attack landed and dug into Ranma's lower ribcage.

"Argh!" Ranma grunted as he jumped back, holding his wound while the wing-clipped phoenix got back on its feet to face him. Ranma's eyes quickly searched the Phoenix's chest and saw a reddish-purple gem that didn't look cracked at all. "Aha!"

With great speed, Ranma's hand shot forward, intending to rip the gem out of Saffron's chest, only to have his wrist grabbed mere inches from it. Immediately, his second hand shot out but was also grabbed by Saffron. Looking up he stared into the snarling Phoenix King's face, a stark contrast from the prissy boy he fought in Jusendo, and half-growled back.

Saffron was clearly intelligent enough to know that Ranma wanted to rip the gem from his chest, straining to prevent Ranma from inching any closer.

Just as Ranma's fingers was about to touch the gem Saffron moved his body forward and smashed chest-first into the pigtailed boy, catching him off guard, before he bit down hard on the boy's muscled shoulder, tasting blood.

"You little-!" Ranma growled as he countered the attack by forcefully spring-boarding off of Saffron's stomach. He felt the flesh in his right shoulder tear and blood flow freely. He quickly clamped his hand on his shoulder as if trying to prevent any further leakage.

Saffron did not bother to wipe the blood from his mouth as he lunged quickly at Ranma, hoping to kill the boy, and was rewarded with a powerful punch to the face for his effort followed by several stone-breaking punches to his jaw, rattling his senses.

Ranma cursed himself for his carelessness. Running off, he calmed his heart and began to focus on the tenant of the Umi-Sen-Ken, no small feat when his shoulder was leaking like a running faucet.

Saffron growled, no longer able to sense the presence of the hateful mortal, and began to toss fireballs in random directions hoping to flush the boy out.

"Ain't even fucking close."

Saffron turned around too late as he felt an arm around his neck trying to squeeze the life out of him again, and another hand trying to pull on his power source. Roaring in fury, he flashed his wings with fire and mended them before shooting up into the sky.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Ranma taunted as he maintained his grip on Saffron who was trying to shake him off. Too bad for Saffron he specialized in midair techniques and was able to maintain his hold. This brought him to his next problem, the gem refused to be pried loose. Pull as he might, he couldn't get it free.

Saffron tried to fly in the most complicated manner possible but still couldn't shake off the mortal. He then began to adjust his tactics by dive-bombing toward the concrete ground, only to turn at the last moment, letting the mortal boy take the brunt of the force.

"Guh! Clever fucker." Ranma braced against the impact and knew that his back was pretty cut up by now. Yet he still maintained his grip, it was then a thought occurred to him.

Saffron had been alarmed when the pigtailed boy still refused to get off his back, even after a dozen reverse dive-bomb attacks, when Ranma's body suddenly slackened and the hand that had been trying to pry out the gem fell away. Saffron roared in gleeful triumph as he felt the hold on his back also loosen, and so flew high up into the sky so that the mortal could drop back down to the Earth.

"Got ya!"

A mile above the ground, Saffron heard a sicken crack and looked down at his chest incredulously to see a human fist sticking out, holding the gem.

Using the his father's Deadly Snake-Pit Probing Palm, which technically was meant to be used on his opponent's heart, strike he had punched through Saffron's back where the gem would be, and it was now in his palm. Pulling his hand out of the winged being's back, Ranma was surprised when the Phoenix Lord's fire appeared to gather in on itself before blowing right up in his face.

Weakened from the battle and the accumulated wounds, Ranma put as much energy into the Soul of Ice as possible to cushion the blast wave while maintaining his death grip on the gem. Surprisingly, the Gem was subdued and for whatever reason did not latch onto him like it did with Saffron.

Ranma eyes grew heavy as he began his freefall back to the ground. Above him he could make out Saffron's figure, which seemed smaller now, falling down with him. To his fatigued mind's surprise, the Saffron that was now falling with him was a small kid. Not a baby, but at most, five years old. His closed eyes told Ranma that Saffron was indeed unconscious and what should have been a hole in his chest was now smooth flesh. For a second, Ranma contemplated on letting let kid-Saffron fall, for all he knew the kid might even survive. However, his martial arts code kicked in right afterward, and he decided to do the right thing.

'Hell, what's taking some more damage gonna do?' Ranma thought to himself as he grabbed the free-falling Saffron and hugged the kid against his chest. Angling his body so he would hit the ground first, he waited for the inevitable to happen even as his eyelids grew heavier.

Why, he could have almost sworn he heard Jean and other jumbled voices calling out to him.

'Ah well,' Ranma thought as he passed out.

*** S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Timestamp Unknown****

Maria Hill stepped off the transport with a container in hand. Greeting her right away was her one-eyed superior, Colonel Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself.

"Hill," the stern black man greeted his right-hand woman. "Interesting trip?"

"That would be an understatement sir," Maria replied back ruefully before snapping to attention.

"At ease Lieutenant," Nick Fury ordered and watched as his subordinate fell into a relaxed military stance. "You will be debriefed later. Walk with me."

The stern woman immediately fell in line with her commanding officer after handing off the container to a S.H.I.E.L.D. science division officer.

After a few moments of silence and well out of earshot of any agents, the one-eyed black man turned to look at the lieutenant. "So, tell me about our newest marvel."

"Oh, you are not going to believe this sir," Maria warned her superior and gave her report.

*** Genosha, Timestamp Unknown***

Magneto was busy attending to matters of the state when his second-in-command, Exodus, entered with a woman he had not been expecting. Irene Keller, often called Destiny because she could see all future events and pathways.

"Irene, why are you here?"

"To warn you Erik," Irene said, ruefully looking directly at Magneto despite being blind.

"Warn me of what?" Magneto asked in a serious tone of voice. When Destiny spoke, you listened.

"Possible danger," Destiny replied uncertainty which alarmed Magneto to no end.

"What kind of danger?" Magneto got out of his seat to walk over to the woman.

"That is the problem, I do not know," Destiny answered after a few moments. "Where once I could see clearly what could or might happen, I now find myself blinded by something... chaotic."

"What do you mean chaotic?" Magneto asked warily. Chaos was never good, with Destiny's help he was able to route coups on his nation before they even happened.

"Xavier has obtained something, or maybe someone, that not only meddles with my power but is meddling with the destiny of every mutant it comes into contact with," Destiny explained in an unreadable tone.

"How can you be so sure that it is Charles' handy work?" Magneto challenged the older woman.

Destiny faced Magneto with a serious expression. "Because, it started at his school and has been spreading. If this keeps up, I will be blinded to your enemies, Erik, and if that happens we'll no longer know how long your reign here will last."

Magneto turned his back to consider the woman's warning and nodded. "Exodus, ready a few of our best students, perhaps fifty. Maybe it's time Charles and I have a friendly chat and compare whose teaching method truly works."

"As you command," Exodus bowed in a knightly manner before leaving.

Magneto turned to Destiny and looked at her, her expression serene. "You are not surprised?"

The shade-wearing woman simply smiled.

**** Unknown Lair, Timestamp Unknown****

Nathaniel Essex, known primarily as Mr. Sinister, was researching his newest way to create the ultimate mutant when one of his spy drones reported in.

A few taps later, it was revealed to be the spy drone that had been surveying the Xavier Institute. With a few more clicks, the video feed of his spy bot quickly downloaded to the lab mainframe.

An hour later, having finished watching the recording, a sinister laugh echoed throughout the labs. Imprisoned, missing mutants, who had been caught by the mad being, huddled in fear inside their cages. They were well acquainted with the laughter of their captor. Such a laugh was usually the start of another painful experiment.

*** Egypt, Time Stamp Unknown ***

Several Akkaba clansmen were kneeling in front of the sarcophagus of their lord, En Sabah Nur, known by many as Apocalypse. They had summoned their lord to tell him news of great importance.

Slowly, the high tech tomb opened up, and from its depths rose a powerful and stern figure.

"You called me before my sleep cycle was finished, why?" The powerful figure demanded making the "fearless" Akkaba clansman cower in fear.

"Great Apocalypse, we bring news of the hated enemy, of Saffron," the leader of the hooded Akkaba clansmen spoke up. He quickly glanced to see his master had not yet killed him, and an unreadable expression was on his face.

"What news of the... Phoenix King?" Apocalypse finally inquired after a long stretch of silence.

"Lord Saffron has been defeated Master," the hooded leader spoke up. "He will be unable to challenge you, his lands lie in ruin."

"... Who defeated him?" Apocalypse finally asked, showing no emotion.

"A young boy, Master, no older then sixteen," the leader answered immediately.

Apocalypse clasped his hands behind his back and stared as his clansmen, after another long stretch of silence he spoke up. ""Keep an eye on this boy."

"As you command master!"

As his clansman retreated, Apocalypse looked down from his resting place. Though he did not show it, he was quite eager to meet the one who defeated the Phoenix Lord and how this boy would measure up to the ultimate test.

++++ Xavier Institute +++

Ranma woke up, letting out a soft groan. Blinking his eyes a bit, he noticed that he was in the lab bed again and that the overhead light had been dimmed.

"Nggh," Ranma groaned softly as he rose up in the bed to find that there were various wires taped to his body. "What the heck?"

Unfortunately for him, the taped wire was not the only odd thing about his situation. First, he noticed that he was shirtless and that his right shoulder was tightly bandaged. Second, his boxers was gone, instead he was wearing loose pants that had buttons on either side. He guessed they were for easy access in case anyone ever needed to check him down there for whatever reason.

The thought did not comfort him in the least.

Looking down he noticed that his bandaged shoulder had a matching bandage around his midsection where Saffron had punctured his body.

"Gah," Ranma cursed and gingerly touched the spot and felt no pain other than an itching sensation. Touching his shoulder he also noticed that it only itched as well. Closing his eyes, he assessed his own status.

A moment later he opened his eyes, a small smile on his face. "Not too bad at all," Ranma grinned as he started to slowly take off the wires that were restricting his movement.

The monitor immediately began beeping, as it was no longer able to read his vital signs, but a swift movement left it unplugged from the wall socket.

"Stupid noises," Ranma muttered as he continued to peel the stickers off his body. A few moments later the door to his room opened and an alarmed-looking Beast came in. Upon seeing him, Beast's eyes widened a fraction in surprise.

"Mr. Saotome, what on earth do you think you are doing?" Dr. Hank McCoy asked of the boy who had just finished tearing off the last of the monitoring equipment.

"Getting out of here," Ranma replied nonchalantly as he swung his leg to the side of the bed and made to stand up.

"Oh no, no, no. That will not do," Hank quickly closed the gap between them and tried to push the boy back onto the bed. "You have not been cleared yet."

Ranma was surprised by how strong the doctor's beast form was, but it wasn't anything he hadn't faced before and pushed back against the doctor and stood on the floor. "See, I'm fine!"

Hank McCoy had been there when the boy was brought in by Jean, and the initial blood test had come back positive as all human. Based on science alone, he should not have been able to recover this quickly. From the look on the boy's face he seemed insistent on leaving the medical room, so he would counter the boy's attitude with logic.

"Mr. Saotome, we simply can't have a student who as wounded as you run out and about, not to mention the unsanitary nature of the open wounds on your shoulder, back and abdomen."

Ranma looked down at his body before looking back at the good doctor. "First, call me Ranma, seriously, none of this Mr. Saotome crap. Secondly-"

"What are you doi- oh?" Hank began to reprimand the young man the moment he started to remove the bandage on his shoulder only to pull up short. The recently ripped flesh was now only lightly bruised and scarred. Stepping closer he looked at the shoulder in fascination. "Do you mind?"

Ranma saw that the doctor wanted to inspect his wound and gave his consent with a shrug of his shoulders. The doctor began to gently touch the bruised shoulder area before trying to apply light pressure to it, no doubt in an effort to elicit pain from him.

"See, told ya I'm fine."

"How is that even possible, without even a healing factor," Doctor McCoy murmured at the boy's statement, yet before his eyes the wounds were completely healed.

"How long was I out for anyway?"

"A little over a day," Hank answered as he removed the square-shaped gauze taped on Ranma's lower left abdomen and marveled at the fact that the wounds that were there the other day had completely disappeared. Frowning, he looked up at Ranma. "If you sit up on the bed and let me run a few quick scans, I'll clear you to leave."

"Deal!" Ranma jumped lightly on the bed, which he now realized was actually encased in some type of metal frame.

Hank tapped a few buttons on the side of the bed activating the scanners and biorhythm monitors. On it was the diagram of Ranma's body. Tapping a few more buttons, he compared the first reading from when Ranma arrived at the school. Other than slightly a lower blood sugar level, his bio-signature matched perfectly. Logan, who had been burnt a lot worse than Ranma, recovered faster, within half a day, but was still feeling the aftereffects. Ranma's vital signs all pointed to a normal, stress-free body. The only discrepancies were the bruising at the affected areas, but the cuts on his back were all but gone. Other patients had been discharged with more.

After a good half an hour of scanning, Hank was satisfied with the results. Deactivating the scanner he heard Ranma let out a sigh of relief.

"So we good Doc?" Ranma's voice came from the bed.

"You are... healthy, not perfectly mind you but well enough to be out and about," Doctor McCoy replied grudgingly.

"Great!" Ranma jumped out of bed lightly and touched the cold floor eliciting a little shiver. Looking around he threw an inquiry at the Beast. "So errr, where's my clothes?"

"Your.., oh, they weren't salvageable when you were brought in, not to mention the blood contaminants on them. They were incinerated," Beast replied looking slightly guilty. "Jean was going to pick you up something suitable as a replacement, but we couldn't imagine you would recover so quickly."

"It's cool, I've got a few more sets in my room," Ranma nodded. As long as they were giving him free clothing to replace the set he lost, he didn't mind. Now came the most important question that had been on his mind since he woke up. "So... is it lunch time yet?"

"Actually, I do believe it is very close to lunch time Mr. Sa-, my apologies, Ranma," Beast answered after glancing at his watch.

"Damn it, how am I gonna get out of here with no clothes?" Ranma fretted and debated if he should just show up shirtless. Food takes priority over modesty, and he really needed food. Badly.

Beast nodded before throwing some hygiene items to Ranma. "Here, get cleaned up while I find something for you to wear."

"Thanks Dr. McCoy," Ranma nodded and went into the shower area connected to the lab.

Beast immediately tried to get in contact with Jean, but hit her voice mail instead. Checking the net feed, he noticed that there were reports of some villains making trouble in downtown Manhattan. Jean was supposed to be in that area shopping with Kitty, he had a feeling his friends might be involved in that scuffle. After leaving a quick message he quickly searched one of the cabinets and found something that might be good enough for Mr. Saotome just as he exited the shower.

"Ah, here we go."

Ranma caught the little bundle that the good doctor tossed to him easily and looked at it. "What is this?"

"Surely you don't plan on going to lunch in a hospital gown," Beast arched his eyebrows and saw the boy blush in embarrassment.

Unwrapping the bundle, Ranma eyed the clothes critically. "Yellow and black? Seriously?! And what an ugly design!"

"Hey! It's an elegant design and a classic to boot. Also, it's not black but dark blue!" Beast retorted immediately. In Ranma's hands was one of the very first versions of the X-men uniform. It was a perfect blend, in their professor's eyes, of elegant navy blue and shining gold. Of course, Hank himself helped design the uniform, so it hit his ego for it to be called ugly.

"Look's black to me," Ranma pointed out holding the sleeve out to the beast who actually began to growl. "Okay, Okay. I take it back, it's a great uniform."

Ranma's words could not have sounded less sincere, but Beast decided to let it slide.

"Hey, why is there a little hood thingy here?" Ranma asked looking at the ski mask attached to the chest piece.

"It was for us to keep our identities secret," Beast replied proudly.

"You guys don't do that anymore?" Ranma asked as he started to put on the old costume. It was better than being naked, at least until he get to his room, which would happen right after he ate lunch.

Hank opened his mouth to reply, only to stop. Thinking about it, he wondered if any of them besides Wolverine really bothered to hide their identity anymore. And even then, everyone knew who Logan was. Had they come so far?

"Dr. McCoy?" Ranma prompted, seeing how Beast was lost in thought.

"Hmm? Oh, Hmm, that's a good question, some of us still do but the majority of us have not for a while now," Hank mused. Turning around, he was taken momentarily back to the past when all five original X-men wore the costume. Although the costume, being one of his old extras, was a bit too large for Ranma. "Oh, if it's too lose, pull on the side of the seams to tighten it."

"Got it," Ranma acknowledged as he tightened the costume until it hugged his body. "Damn, feel kind of exposed in this."

Hank grinned at that and handed Ranma the final item that would complete the set.

"Ah thanks."

Taking the belt that was handed to him, Ranma looped it around his 'pants,' and he used that term loosely, and fastened it. Looking down he saw the belt cleverly made an 'X' symbol once connected. Doing a few practice punches and kicks, he found that the uniform was very flexible and after a while he hardly noticed it was on him like this.

"To your liking?" Hank asked with a smirk. These costumes were designed to be fought in; of course it would be comfortable.

"Yeah. Thanks Doc," Ranma said as he headed out the door. Just as he was about to exit he stopped and turned to look at the doctor with real gratitude in his eyes. "For everything."

Ranma turned back around and did not bother waiting for a reply as he made his way to the elevator. Pressing the button he was a bit surprised to find that it was still working. Entering the unit, he pressed the button for the ground floor and less than ten seconds later, the doors opened up to some very familiar hallways. Immediately, he was hit by the same sights and sounds of students running left and right, some trying to get to class, others to the cafeteria.

Surprised by the normalcy, Ranma stepped out and looked at the surroundings, which did not seem to have taken any damage at all. That wasn't possible, as he knew the ceiling had caved in, yet there it was, as if it was never damaged.

"Looking good there cutie." a cadre of girls passed by Ranma, eyeing his physique a bit before giggling into their books and talking among themselves.

Looking at the departing girls, he shook his head at the strangeness of it all. A moment later, a grumbling from his stomach reminded him that he was looking for food.

"Right..." Ranma nodded before walking toward the cafeteria. He saw some students turn around and do a double take upon seeing him, but he chalked it up to the odd uniform. He was, however, greatly interested in the bits and pieces of information that were being bandied about."

"Can you believe the destruction yesterday?"

"Yeah I know right, if it wasn't for Dr. McCoy and Forge's fix 'em robots we wouldn't even be having class today!"

"I know, what a bummer right!"

"Hey is that the normie? I heard he's not a normie at all but a mutant like us!"

"No way, really?"

That annoyed Ranma that they thought he was mutant, but it did not appear that they knew he fought Saffron, much less what actually attacked them a couple of days ago.

Walking through the cafeteria doors, he saw some of the people stop talking at the tables upon seeing him.

"Is that a classic uniform?"

"What is he wearing?"

"Whoa, I didn't know he was that built."

"Dude, I heard he was top side yesterday and actually helped."

"No way!"

"Way!"

"Shut up!"

"No you shu-"

Ranma tuned out the rest of the whispering as it was all nonsensical to him and got in line for lunch.

_'Ranma?!' _Three shocked voices exclaimed in alarm, rather too clearly to have actually been heard in such a noisy area.

Ranma whirled around and located the blonde triplets that were just inside his head. He spotted them at a table with a shocked looking Evan and an incredulous looking Sybil. Even Myst had stopped eating, her fork hovering halfway to her mouth. Maintaining direct eye-contact with the triplets, he concentrated hard.

_'Don't go in my head without my permission!' _Ranma thought forcefully. He sensed their shock as they made a slow retreat. One presence lingered longer than the other two but sent one final thought before leaving.

_'Sorry.'_

Ranma sighed and felt kind of bad, but other than Jean and the Professor he didn't want anyone else reading his thoughts. He had to find a way to counter those damn telepathy powers.

"Hey normie, is it true you help fight an omega mutant yesterday?" the guy in front of Ranma asked curiously.

Ranma looked at the guy, who he realized was the big guy who hurried him up during breakfast on his first day. "Yeah, I did."

The big guy suddenly smiled and stuck out his hand. "Then you're okay in my book, that shit takes balls."

Ranma tentatively shook the guy's hand, having realized the guy didn't introduce himself, nor had he asked for Ranma's name.

"Sweet, you wanna skip in line ahead of me? I eat a lot, not sure if there would be stuff left for you after I'm done," the big guy laughed at his own private joke.

"Nah, you go ahead," Ranma declined.

The big guy smiled again. "You're alright, normie."

With that the guy turned his back to Ranma, after a good five minutes of waiting in line Ranma got his food and went over to his friends' tables. He noticed that the triplets where still sitting in the same seats as last time. He was going to take the seat next to Evan but on the other side of him so that he'd be further away from the triplets, but the boney boy grabbed him by his shirt and redirected him to sit next to the blonde sisters.

"Ranma," Evan greeted neutrally.

"Evans," Ranma returned the weird greeting. He looked to see Myst still looking at him as if seeing him in a new light, while the triplets had stopped eating all together. Sybil was across from him next to Myst, still staring at him. Shrugging he set about eating but Evans was not finished.

"So, I heard you're one badass mother fu-"

"Evans!" Sybil spoke up to intervene. "Language! Remember, student code of conduct!"

"How are you even OUT of bed right now?" the blonde next to Ranma spoke up.

"What does it matter Celeste?" Ranma replied in a bored tone as he sprinkled some salt on his food. A moment later he took the plastic fork out of the disposable plastic wrapping.

"How do you know I'm Celeste and not Phoebe or Irma?" 'Celeste' narrowed her eyes. The band-aid was off her head by now.

"Oh I have my ways," Ranma replied vaguely on purpose to needle the girl. He then looked at the other two girls. "The one on the end today is Phoebe while Irma is in the middle."

The triplet looked as if they were slapped at the revelation.

"Also if ya try to read my mind to find out how I know I WILL make you all go to sleep," Ranma threatened without heat.

The Triplets were not scared of anyone and Celeste was about to take Ranma up on his challenge when her two sisters interfered.

_'Don't be rude!_' Irma scolded through their telepathy.

_'Yeah, leave well enough alone, jeez, you and your pride!'_ Phoebe thought as well.

Celeste couldn't believe her two sisters were going against her on this, but she grudgingly backed down. Ranma could probably knock her out before she could get a telepathic attack out. Besides, it would be embarrassing to wake up with food face.

Ranma saw the indecision flashing across Celeste's face while the other two girls smiled at him nicely. Grinning he gave the other two girls a thumbs-up of approval before going back to eat.

"Ahem, yeah. So about your badass-ery?"

Or at least Ranma thought so before Evans interrupted again. Something told him Evans wouldn't stop pestering him until he was satisfied. "Fine, what ya wanna know?"

"How did you jump that high and punch through trees and stuff!" Celeste blurted out immediately, surprising Evan.

Turning to the girl, Ranma debated whether to answer her question or not, but decided to be nice. "With training, lots and lots of back-breaking training."

"What kind of training let you do that?" Celeste's eyes looked sincerely at the pigtailed boy.

"Martial Arts of course," Ranma replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. "I've been training since I could walk, stuff like breaking trees and jumping that high is the least of what I can do."

Okay, so he bragged a bit. But he was Ranma Saotome, and Ranma Saotome was confident in his skills if nothing else.

"Seriously? We take Martial arts from Ms. Psylocke and she doesn't do half the things you do, at least not without mutant powers to help," Phoebe spoke up, also curious.

"Ah, the purple-haired Japanese woman, Betty right?" Ranma remembered and saw the others nodding. "Her training was probably different from mine. It's no different than you guys having different powers; some are stronger than others right?"

The mutants at the table had to nod in agreement at that assessment.

"When I fought Bett- Psylocke, I noticed from the way she moved that she was trained in the ways of the ninja," Ranma whispered softly. He knew for a fact that ninjas were bad news. Although there were some shitty ninjas like Sasuke as well.

"How did you know Professor Braddock was a ninja?" Sybil asked in a whisper as well as Ranma whispered first.

"I can tell by her fighting technique," Ranma bragged before he decided to further elaborate, more for the triplets than anyone else. "Also once you train enough you can pick out a person's presence. Everyone has a signature to them, to their life force, and you three have slight variations on the same signature."

"That's how you can tell us apart?" Celeste asked, shock was plainly written on her face.

Ranma merely grinned as he began to eat. He ignored the inquisitive look that Celeste was shooting at him from the corner of her eyes. He turned to Sybil after finishing one-fourth of his meal instead. "You don't look like you were too injured. I tried to lead him away from you guys."

"Ah, yes, well, Julian was protecting us for the majority of that barrage. When we saw you so bloody, I, we all thought you weren't going to make it," Sybil shivered a bit as she finished.

Ranma however smiled disarmingly at her. "Ah, stick around me for a while and you'll get used to it, but just remember, I'm a lot tougher then I look."

"Jedi." Myst spoke up for the first time since he sat down. Her eyes were gleaming disturbingly.

"I'm not!" Ranma protested heavily. "I don't even know what that is!"

Evans and Myst looked shocked, but it was Evans who spoke up. "You don't know about Star Wars? My friend, me and you, we're gonna have a little movie marathon, you ladies are invited of course."

"In." Myst said immediately.

"Depending on when you watch it I might be able to join," Sybil answered after for a few seconds.

Evans looked over to the Cuckoos, knowing that they would say no. They were the school queen bees and wouldn't lower themselves to hang out with the commoners such as him and Ranma.

"If it's at a reasonable time, we'll come," Celeste answered for the girls after a moment's consideration.

Evan's jaw dropped at the girl's reply and looked up to the sky as if praising the gods. Today was the start of his youth!

Celeste didn't have to be a telepath to know what Evans was thinking, but instead focused on Ranma, eyeing him up and down. "All of that aside, why are you wearing such a tack-"

"Ranma!"

Ranma turned around and saw a livid Jean Grey striding purposefully toward him.

"Oh shit."

While she was the nicest person with powers Ranma had ever come across, for some reason her acting in this manner made him go into a defensive scared mode. Her tone was too much like an angry mom. Then there was also the fact that he swore he saw her emitting an aura of a little phoenix made out of flame subjacent behind her for a second.

"H-hey Jean, heh heh," Ranma chuckled weakly at the red-haired, emerald-eyed beauty. "Wha-what's going on?"

Before Jean could say anything else something fast shot past her and attached itself to Ranma leg.

"What the hell, get it off get it off!" Ranma shouted as he got up and started to kick the thing off his leg to no avail, he didn't even sense the thing. It wasn't until it moved again that he made out a face. A very familiar face. "What the... Saffron?"

While it was indeed Saffron, it wasn't the Saffron he fought at Jusendo, nor was it the Saffron he saw Jean play with. This Saffron looked no more than five and was absolutely adorable, with his doe-like eyes gazing at him.

Child-Saffron turned his head to Jean and smiled happily. "I found Daddy, Mommy!"

There was a pregnant pause before the loud voice of a certain pigtailed martial artist could be heard throughout the school.

"WHAT?!"

End Orientation

AN: Yep, I finished this along with part 3 and broke it in half so I can polish this second half :D I am not a fast writer. I am however a quick poster if my stuff get back in a timely manner :D

So there you have it! The end of the Orientation Arc! And now I shall take yet another hiatus to read something a quick novel we'll see how that turns out. It is my hope that by the end of reading this, for those that had an interest in this story, that I got the contrast of Ranma first initial arrival and then Ranma final impression down.

As I have stated, I was trying for a more comic book style who has arc's all the time. So this would be Orientation and the others would be well, just that, others. Self contain with over reaching meta plot.

There are a lot of stuff I put in there, as I try to layer everything for those with x-men or Ranma with easter egg.

Thanks for all those that left a review and like this story :D I appreicate.

Next Arc: Supremacy

As always C+C welcome, reviews appreicated.


	6. Supremacy:Part One

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

Once more special thanks to , Deathly, Mingyu and big Chees for doing this chapter! You guys rock!

Homo Superior

Supremacy: Part One

**** Xavier Institute for Higher Learning ****

Ranma slowly woke up at the start of a brand new day and noticed that dawn was just beginning to break over the horizon. Blinking his bleary eyes, he sat up, slowly stretched his arms wide and exhaled. It was then he noticed something different, in specific a light weight attached to his chest. Looking down, he saw the child Saffron curled up in a small bundle with part of his blanket still on him. His wings were wrapped around him as if trying to ward off the cold.

"S-Saffron?"

The child, hearing his name, yawned cutely and opened his large, expressive eyes at Ranma. His eyes full of love and implicit trust. In the sweetest tone, as only an innocent child could produce, he greeted his role model. "Good morning Daddy."

Ranma looked at the small phoenix and suddenly put his hand on the child's head.

Saffron's eyes widened in delight at the contact, rubbing his head against his father's hand, only to suddenly realize something off as his father's grip became firm. "D-daddy?"

Clad only in a wife beater and boxers, Ranma maintained his grip on the child's head and walked over to the window.

"Daddy?"

Unlocking the window, he wound his arm back before launching the future Phoenix King out of the room.

"That's the tenth time this month," Ranma grumbled to himself. A movement from the bed across the room let him know that his roommate had been awoken by the incident.

"Ranma?"

"Saffron," Ranma replied simply.

"Oh." Beak blearily responded before tucking himself back into bed.

With that done, Ranma prepared for his morning training.

+++ Later that morning +++

Ranma finished his shower in the special needs section of the dormitory. Upon exiting, he noticed that Myst had also finished and was waving to him politely.

"Morning."

Without saying anything else, the girl floated back out. How or why she would ever need a towel wrapped around her head, Ranma would never know. Putting on his usual red Chinese shirt and black kung fu pants, Ranma was now ready for yet another day at the Xavier's School for Higher Learning. Going to the door of the special needs section, he exited and was greeted by the sight of hundreds of students flying, crawling, or walking all over the place.

"God damn it man, why didn't you call me up!"

"Argh! The hot water is all used up again!"

"Ugh...damn it, I'm hungry."

"Hungry? I can't even think about food right now, I need to pee bad!"

"Cross your legs, I heard it helps."

"How about I punch you in your smart mouth?"

Ranma had to grin at the sight. While it was once alien to him, he couldn't help but enjoy the sight of the diverse range of students mingling.

"Good morning Ranma!"

"Morning Sybil," Ranma greeted his former guide with a friendly wave. "Scare any new students lately?"

Sybil the golden-furred cat girl rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You'll never let me live that down, will you?!"

"As long as I attend this school, no, pretty much never." Ranma blithely replied, grinning.

"Oh, well in that case," Sybil said with merriment dancing in her eyes. "I hope you continue to remind me for years to come. See ya."

Ranma had to shake his head at the cat girl; she was still as exuberant as ever. He had to admit, she was a good friend to have.

"Damn it Ranma, you couldn't wake me up?"

"Evan," Ranma greeted his friend who was looking frazzled in his PJ's, with a towel draped over his shoulders and a set of clothes he was going to wear tucked under his other arm. "I tried, but you're a heavy sleeper."

"You could have tried harder!" Evan blamed his friend, although there was no heat to it, as he eyed the line to the bathroom in dismay.

"Hey if you want, I can always wake you up the same way my dad used to do to me." Ranma offered with a mischievous smile.

"Really?" Evan warily looked at his friend. After having known Ranma a month now, he was beginning to be able to read the pigtailed Japanese boy's tells. One of those indicates when he was full of bullshit, and the expression on his face now reeked of it. "What exactly does that... entail?"

Ranma's smile grew even wider. "Oh nothing too bad, just me barging into your room and tossing you out the window."

Evan's expression became fearful. "W-what? That's insane! Your dad did that to you?"

Ranma nodded as his face took on a fond look. "Yep, every morning."

"But I'm on the third floor..." Evan pointed out.

"So?" Ranma gave his friend a puzzled look. "Why does that matter?"

Gulping Evan put on a smile and saved himself. "I think I'll pass on your... generous offer."

"You sure?" Ranma insisted as he looked at his friend's nervous expression.

"Positive," The blond boy reaffirmed before looking at Ranma, envy in his eyes. "Still, I guess I have to make do with this line, unlike someone who gets their own personal shower."

"Well, what can I say?" Ranma spread his arms wide in a helpless gesture. "I am a 'special needs' student ya know."

"Special needs my ass!" Evan viciously countered. "You're as special needs as Sybil is a house cat."

"Good luck with the lines Evan, see ya at breakfast," Ranma said grinning from ear to ear as he left his friend to his fate. "Maybe."

"Damn you Ranma Saotome!" Evan called from behind as the pigtailed boy walked out the door, and he had to smile. He enjoyed their banter and he would count Ranma among one of his best friends.

+++ Cafeteria+++

Ranma was looking down at the western fare and wondered if he would ever get to taste good ole fish and miso for breakfast again. Today it was something called cheesy grits, sausage, and bacon among other things.

"Good morning Ranma."

"Celeste," Ranma said, not looking up from his food, having sensed the telepathic triplets even as they made their approach.

"I'm over here you know." Celeste said, offended as the pigtailed boy continued to eat. She thought the Japanese were all about decorum and manners. Although she never heard of any Japanese with blue eyes, like in Ranma's case.

Ranma turned around and glanced at the pretty blonde, giving her a look before his gaze moved beyond her shoulder giving Celeste's two sisters a smile. "Morning Irma, Phoebe."

"Morning Ranma!" The two sisters fondly greeted the pigtailed boy in unison.

Celeste narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the pigtailed boy, why was it that her two sisters got nicer treatment from him. Not that she cared, but it was rude! They were triplets after all.

"Ranma." Myst finally floated over to the table with her food trays and took notice of the three sisters. "Cuckoos."

"Good Morning Myst." The three spoke as one.

"I gotta admit," Ranma chuckled a bit at hearing three voices saying the same thing with the same inflection. "That never gets old."

"Shut up." Celeste retorted while her two sisters giggled.

"That does however." Ranma said pointedly eyeing Celeste before exaggeratedly looking from the other two blondes back to the girl next to him.

Celeste was smart enough to know when she was losing, and decided that Ranma had won this round. With as much grace as Ms. Frost instilled in her, she began to eat her breakfast while ignoring Ranma.

Ranma smirked as he finally got the leader of the triplets silent. He still couldn't believe that of the three girls, Celeste was considered the nicest. 'Nice my ass,' Ranma snorted at the thought before he felt a killing intent from his right side, a moment later three violent presences appeared to his left.

"Ranma," Akane walked deliberately up to her fiancée and placed her tray by him. "How surprising to find the Stepford sisters here with you. Again."

"Well, in America it's a free country," Ranma said shrugging, turning to look at his fiancée who had changed quite a bit. Like him, she also no longer needed a guide and was now more familiar with the place. Of course, she had also changed physically. To begin with, she no longer dressed as conservatively, wearing casual form-fitting clothes. Her hair had also grown out longer, longer than Nabiki's and almost to her shoulders. Apparently Akane had taken quite a shine to Psylocke and viewed the Japanese woman as her role model.

"Akane, how nice of you to join us," Celeste's tone indicated that it was anything but, and the other two sisters also wore matching expressions of distaste for Ranma's fiancée.

"Likewise," Akane replied in the same tone. "Don't you have other boys to keep you company?"

The three Cuckoos stared at each other before glaring at Akane. "Who we spend our time with is no business of yours. Eat your breakfast, Tendo."

Ranma was honestly boggled as to why the Cuckoos were so hostile to his fiancée, and likewise, why Akane was so angry. For god's sake, he wasn't even engaged to anyone in this school yet and she was acting as if Ukyou or Shampoo had shown up.

"Ranma you bastard, because of you I've seen hell!" Evan growled as he slammed his tray on the table, startling the girls and drawing their attention as he glared at his target. A second later he guffawed along with Ranma.

"Good impersonation, but he never added bastard, it's just 'Ranma! Because of you I've seen hell!'," Ranma corrected his friend. He was thankful that Evan had come in and broke the tension between the girls.

"Meh, I'll call this the Spyke version!" Evan said magnanimously before he looked at the girls around the table and smiled. "Morning ladies!"

The girls nodded politely to the black boy before the previous tension returned. Sighing, Evan knew that his plan to distract them had failed.

It was then a new presence joined the table, causing all the girls at the table, even Akane, to simultaneously blush at the handsome boy. Julian Keller, aka Hellion, took a seat right next to Myst in order to be facing almost directly across from Ranma.

"Good morning girls," Julian said, flashing the girls at the table a charming smile. Myst, who was next to the boy, was turning redder by the second.

"Hi Julian," The triplets and Akane said as one before looking at each other and glaring.

Julian ignored the byplay and looked at Ranma, his smile dropping as his face took on a more serious expression. "When's your next Danger Room session?"

"What?" Evan had a shocked expression on his face as he turned to his friend. "What Danger Room session?"

Akane and the Cuckoos also turned to Ranma, looking at the pigtailed boy in surprise.

"Dunno," Ranma replied with a shrug of his shoulders while sweating a bit from the stares. "I think Logan said that was a one time thing..."

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Evan said looking at Ranma. "You got invited to the Danger Room?"

"He did more than get invited," Hellion replied with a dark look in his eyes before looking at Ranma with grudging respect. "Sofia wants a rematch."

"Wind Dancer?" Evan asked looking at Ranma wide-eyed. "You fought Wind Dancer?"

Celeste rolled her eyes at the awe in Evan's voice. "Hello, he fought an omega mutant jacked up on magical steroids. Wind Dancer should be a cake walk for him."

Evan's face took on an understanding expression while Hellion grimaced at being reminded of Ranma's victory over the winged mutant.

"She does not accept the defeat, and neither do I." Hellion said after a few moments as he looked at Ranma, before handing him several small looking envelopes. "I did some research on you Japanese people, and I believe these are what you call letters of challenge."

Ranma eyed the letters and felt a headache coming on. "First, it's challenge letters, and secondly, I wasn't even there to pick a fight! You guys thought I was a simulation for crying out loud!"

"A simulation?" Celeste asked and made to delve into Ranma's mind, but stopped short. Instead she went into Hellion's mind to get the pertinent information.

Akane saw that Ranma didn't reach for the challenge letters, and reached for them herself. Looking at the white envelopes, she saw the following names: Julian Keller, Sofia Mantega, Laura Kinney and surprisingly in Japanese, Noriko Ashida. She knew Noriko, the electrical mutant could do amazing stuff with her powers. Turning on Ranma, she was about to ask him what he did to her friend when Celeste and the other two blonde bimbos started laughing hysterically.

Ranma looked at the laughing sisters, figuring they must have read Hellion's mind. He didn't care whose minds they read, so long as it wasn't his. He looked over the letters and did a double take. "Who the hell is Laura Kinney?"

"Wolverines clo...hmm, dau- no... It's complicated ," Hellion finally replied, as he too had been surprised when Laura handed him her letter to give to the Flatscan. He had remembered her scoffing when Wolverine told her what happened. Of course, being who she was, she wanted to see for herself. Logan was the one that taught her, who in turn taught the majority of them about this challenge letter custom. He then shot a look at the Cuckoos and gave them an annoyed look.

"Hmm, rejected!" Ranma replied as he finished off the rest of his food just as the bell rung. Not taking notice of the shocked expression on Hellion's face or the miffed one on Akane's. "See ya!"

+++ Third Period+++

Ranma had to admit, the morning was going relatively great for him. First period was nice as usual, but it was second period that really made his day. Ryoga got lost and Blink couldn't find him! Oh, he was sure the lost boy will show up once he actually arrived somewhere, as he has a GPS tag on him. But for once, Ranma got to enjoy the peace and quiet. It was then the blonde Cuckoo sister came in and primly took her seat. A moment later she turned to look at him with an amused expression.

"So you beat them down thinking they were simulation too, hmm?" Celeste began her inquiry.

"You read Hellion's mind, you saw what happened." Ranma replied, shaking his head. "It was all a misunderstanding... which is pretty much the story of my life."

"I saw how he remembered it," Celeste corrected. "So why did you turn down that challenge thingy, I believe it's a big deal isn't it?"

Ranma scoffed ruefully. "Among martial artists, but not people who don't know the first thing about it. Even Kuno understood such a basic premise."

Celeste's eyebrows furrowed tightly, as if she was thinking hard, before giving up. "I don't get it."

"It's because they don't respect the code involved," Ranma explained looking at Celeste. "Okay, you hear about how Asian people are always big on honor right?"

"Yeah," Celeste nodded having watched some Chinese movies before like House of Flying Daggers and stuff.

"Well, that also apply to a martial artist, we take it seriously, or at least I try to take it seriously," Ranma continued looking at the blonde who appeared to be paying actual attention. " So for Julian to simply just try to use a mockery of a challenge letter to get a rematch, to me is... annoying."

"Not dishonorable?" Celeste asked surprised thinking that was what he would be saying.

"Pff, no, but it's not a real challenge, and I'm not gonna accept it like one," Ranma nodded glad that the girl understand now.

"Hmm," Celeste gave Ranma another look, and her expression made as if to ask him something else when Caliban walked into his classroom.

"Sorry class, Caliban is late today. However, fear not, we will have an exciting lesson today."

A brave student sighed into his hand. "Is it about Apocalypse again?"

"No," Caliban answered, shocking the classroom.

"R-really?" a girl asked excitedly. After four months of learning about the same guy over and over again, she was ready for a break.

"Yes," Caliban said smiling at the class, though because of his demeanor it looked more menacing then intended. "Today we learn about the asshole little shits, also known to you guys as the Four Horsemen."

There was a collective groan as once more the class was taught something Apocalypse related.

++++ P.E ++++

Ranma dribbled past Lunk, the suave looking guy, with ease going toward the net.

"Somebody stop Saotome!" Lunk shouted as he pursued the boy. Immediately, two defenders broke away from their guard positions and tried to block Ranma's path.

Stopping short of the taller defenders, Ranma jumped easily and did a textbook perfect shot at the basketball hoop. Even before he landed, he knew that he had scored another three-pointer.

"Damn it!" Lunk cursed as he looked at the scoreboard which read 45 to 24.

"That's all ya got?" Ranma taunted as he went back on the defensive with Evan after receiving encouraging pats from his teammates.

Unknown to them, their games in the gym had become something of a show for the girls in the same class.

"I think Evan is cute," Angela, a tall girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes spoke up as her group watched the boys play.

"He's tiny compared to you," Ronnie, the black-furred cat girl retorted. "You need someone bigger to match your size; I think Lunk or one of his friends might be better suited."

"I can't help it if my mutant power gave me super strength and high bone density!" Angela sighed forlornly. Her powers had caused her to grow close to seven feet, and though she didn't look muscular, she was still what many considered a giantess.

"Yeah, I heard you're still growing too, you'd be like the female version of Giant Man," a girl close to Veronica jokingly pointed out.

"Yeah yeah. Well hey, you never know, if I can't make it into the X-men, I might be able to join the Avengers," Angela grinned at the skeptical girls look. She then turned to her friend. "What about you Ronnie, who do you have your eyes on?"

The black-furred cat girl looked at the boys play before letting out a small sigh. "The one boy that probably wouldn't like me."

The group of girls looked puzzled at that. What boy wouldn't like sexy cat girls? While Sybil was the pretty nice perfect girl, with her demeanor, Veronica was the black, sleek, sexy version that boys drooled over. Who wouldn't like her?

A few row over from the girls, the three Cuckoo sisters were also watching the game in play and heard the conversation. After a quick mind scan they found out who the cat girl was crushing on, much to their amusement.

"You like Ranma?" Irma lightly teased the black cat girl.

Veronica looked startled even as her friends looked at her questionably and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know, the guy who I hated turns out to be someone I actually like! Jokes on me right?"

Hearing her friend sigh, and looking at the Cuckoos who were eerily doing their hive mind thing again, Angela comforted her. "Well, the past is the past. Besides, I heard he's easy going, so maybe he won't hold that misunderstanding against you."

"Oh Angela, you don't get it," Veronica sighed again and looked at the pigtailed boy who scored another three pointer. "He belongs to Sybil. I can't intrude on her territory."

"What do you mean belong?" Angela asked, surprised. She hadn't seen Sybil with Ranma for over three weeks now. What was Veronica talking about?

"It's complicated, but she already marked him as hers." Veronica elaborated. Thankfully, she wasn't the only animal type mutant here as a few of the other girls, one with scales another with feathers, eyes widened in understanding.

Angela, being a human-type mutant, still looked confused but did not pursue that line of questioning any further.

+++ Lunch+++

"So Ranma, I heard you and Sybil are an item, does Akane know?"

Ranma, who had been in the middle of swallowing the baked spaghetti, choked on the food item when he heard that line of questioning. Pounding his chest hard, he turned to look at the Cuckoo sister that could always give him a headache. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

To his left as usual were the Cuckoos. Next to him was Phoebe, to her left was Irma, and today at the end was a slightly displeased looking Celeste.

"The girls have been talking. Apparently everyone thinks you and Sybil are an item," Phoebe exaggerated and tried to gauge Ranma's reaction to see if he would deny it.

"What?!" Ranma shouted again. "Why the hell would they think that?!"

"I dunno Ranma, why don't you tell me," Phoebe searched Ranma's expression and was half tempted to use telepathy to find out the truth. But one thing she had learned during the last month that he'd been there was that Ranma was very expressive and blunt to a fault. He also wore his emotions on his sleeve, and whatever he was thinking about could be read on his face plain as day.

"That's a lie!" Ranma denied standing up pointing at the Cuckoo.

Phoebe searched Ranma's face with her pretty blue eyes and, after a few moments of scrutiny, smiled. "I believe you."

Ranma was about to go on a tirade on how he and Sybil could not be anything close to an item when the troublesome girl made her declaration, cooling his indignation. "Really?"

"Yep," Phoebe nodded and looked to her sisters, who also seem to relax, then back at Ranma. "Though I do wonder why they would think that."

"How the hell should I know," Ranma grumbled as he viciously stabbed a fork into his meal. He just hoped those damn rumors didn't reach Akane, because if they did then he was in deep shit.

"Believe." Myst suddenly spoke up giving Ranma a sincere look.

Ranma gave his friend a grateful smile. It was a shame that the girl could only inject when there was a lull in the conversation. He also found out why she could only talk in one word sentences. When her mutation hit, her entire body dissolved. Only after great concentration was she able to reform her self-image. However, everything else inside of her body was gone, even her vocal cords. In order for her to speak she had to mimic vocal cords and move them accordingly to make the sounds. It was a daunting task, and Ranma felt that she was stronger than most give her credit for.

"Thanks Myst-chan."

The mist girl ducked her gaze a bit at the affectionate name calling. She knew that it irked Ranma's fiancée Akane, but she didn't care. It was Ranma's term of endearment for her and her alone. She quite enjoyed the special treatment.

"Ahem," Celeste cleared her throat before looking at Phoebe.

"Oh right," Phoebe nodded before looking at Ranma. "So you and Sybil are 100% positively not an item?"

"No way!" Ranma denied vehemently. "I have enough girl problems as it is, why would I want to add a nice girl like Sybil to that list?"

"Girl problems?" Phoebe asked now curious. She saw Ranma's eyes widen, and he clearly looked nervous. He was hiding something.

"Ahah, did I say girl problems? I mean umm," Ranma looked around and stared wide-eyed out the window in horror. "What the hell is that!?"

Alarmed, The Cuckoos and Myst looked out the window looking for what Ranma had seen and were confused. It was a beautiful day. Turning around they found that Ranma was long gone.

It was at that time that Evan finished grabbing his lunch and went to sit at his usual seat by Ranma, who wasn't there as of a moment ago. "Hey, where'd Ranma go?"

+++ Outside+++

Ranma was halfway to his dorm room when he stopped abruptly. "Wait a god damn minute, why the hell did I run? It's not like it has anything to do with them."

Confused by his reaction, Ranma glanced at the main clock tower of the Xavier institute and realized that he had a good fifteen minutes before lunch was over. With determined resolve, he decided that he was in the right and that he was going to face his friends.

Which was, of course, when another distraction got in his way.

"Daddy!"

"Gah! Get it off! Get it off!"

Attached to Ranma's leg was the reborn Lord of Jusendo, Saffron, who was gazing up adoringly at his father figure. "I missed you! You should come play with me more!"

Finally having enough, Ranma grabbed child Saffron, pulled him away from his leg, and held him out with his outstretched hand. "I'm not your old man! Get it through your thick head!"

The only reply to Ranma's harsh words was unwavering love from the child-like Saffron.

"Argh, that's it!" Ranma growled as he got ready to punt the child away when he felt a hot presence behind him.

"What are you about to do Ranma?" Came a sweet voice from behind him.

With as much dignity he could muster, he put the child Saffron down on the ground and gave him a gruff pat on the head before turning to face Jean Grey. "Hey Jean! Wassup?"

The beautiful redhead narrowed her green emerald eyes at Ranma. "I heard about this morning."

"What about this morning?" Ranma nonchalantly inquired, and noticed the phoenix child was smiling happily between the two.

"You threw him out a window!"

"Is that what you're angry about?" Ranma asked in a confused manner. "My pops threw me out of plenty of windows and I turned out fine!"

Jean looked momentarily shocked before shaking her head. "That's not the point! What if he got hurt!?"

"He has wings and can fly!" Ranma countered then pointed at the child between them. "

"You didn't know that!" Jean pointed out.

"Heh,I do now," Ranma lightly joked but saw Jean was not impressed and suppressed it. "Right... ahem."

"..."

Suddenly Jean, broke down and giggled. Her giggle then turned to laughter as she held her stomach, making the pigtailed boy before her all the more confused. "Oh Ranma."

"Huh?" Ranma looked at Jean in confusion. He did not notice that the child Saffron mimicked his expression to look at his mother in the same manner.

Jean head out her hand to let Ranma know she was okay. After composing herself she still giggled a bit while looking at him. "I just find it amusing that we were arguing as if we were real parents."

Ranma wanted to deny that such a thing was happening, but upon further reflection, suddenly found he was just as amused, though a bit annoyed, by the entire situation. "S-sorry if I was snappish to you, Jean."

"Oh no, don't worry about it," Jean replied easily as she held her arms open. Immediately the child phoenix flew into her arms and nuzzled his face into her hair. She then went and sat by one of the many benches placed throughout the school grounds.

_'Have a seat Ranma.'_

Ranma hearing the invitation and nodded as he made his way to the bench and relaxed.

_'So why were you so irked that you had to take it out on poor little Saffy?'_

Familiar with her presence in his mind, he thought back to her. _'For some reason, it felt as if the old craziness involving my fiancées was making an appearance here.'_

Jean looked at Ranma with a slight tilt of her head as she stroked the child phoenix's hair._ 'You mean your engagements? I thought Ms. Tendo was the only one here, do you think the others have followed you?'_

Ranma leaned his head back onto the bench and looked up at the sky. _'I dunno, but it almost felt like it for some reason. I know Akane looked like she was about to pull out the damn mallet and hit me with it, if not that then at least slug me like she did before.'_

_'And you think that is a sign that things were taking a turn for the worse?_' Jean inquired as she hummed softly to the child phoenix.

_'I dunno, it's just a feeling. Akane is still my fiancee and I care for her, but seriously, I haven't even looked at any other girls here and I still get the evil eye from her. What does she wants from me?'_ Ranma complained. Jean had become more than a counselor for him, or a regular psychiatrist, she was now his confidant and friend.

_'Maybe she wants to know if you love her or not,' _Jean ventured softly, still humming to the child in her arms. _'And maybe she's afraid to find out the answer.'_

_'It's not like I have a choice,'_ Ranma exhaled as he looked at Jean from the corner of his eyes._ 'Family honor demands that I marry her. As far as fiancées go, she would be my pick if I had to marry.'_

_'I believe that might be the problem,'_ Jean gently replied.

Ranma was stunned by her reply, but before he could think of anything else to say the bell rung, signaling that lunch was over.

"Thanks for the chat Jean, I guess we started my crazy session a bit early today huh," Ranma grinned at the redhead. "See ya."

"You're welcome," Jean replied and stood up. But as she did she saw Ranma giving her a weird look, only to realize that he was looking at the child now sleeping on her shoulders. She saw him slowly reach his arm and gently pat the child on his head before running off to his class.

"Well, you're not _too_ horrible of a father after all."

After that observation, Jean went to put the child down before getting back to work.

+++ Sixth Period+++

Ranma was deep in thought during Ms. Pryde's lecture, still confused from his conversation with Jean. Want to? He didn't want any of it, but it is true that he had some form of feelings for the tomboy.

However, if given a choice, without honor on the line... he wondered why that bothered him, more than it should have.

"Alright then, today we have enough Skrull tech to work with. So everyone will have an image modifier to work on. AND if you get it working you can take it home with you!"

The students', mainly the ones who looked less than human, eyes lit up with great interest.

"Are you serious Ms. Pryde!?"

"You're pulling our leg!"

"No way, No way!"

Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, looked at her students and grinned. "I kid you not, the X-men got these from their most recent, heh, 'excursion,' into space and there were several crates just lying around. S.H.I.E.L.D. was nice enough to give us the okay on it. However, they want all the students to be able to be able to do regular maintenance on these devices if they are to issue you one."

That brought a round of cheering from the non-human looking students.

"Skrull devices are hard to work on so you really need to pay attention." Kitty reminded the class, many of them groaning in response. It took some coaxing on the Professor's part to actually get Fury to agree to this because he simply did not want alien tech handed out. So he wanted the students to at least be able to repair them on the fly if need be.

Ranma's eyes widened with great interest at such a device. If what Ms. Pryde said was true then even if he did get splashed with cold water he could still maintain a male form! Unfortunately, after he was handed his device he was lost as to how to even start. While he could work an iPad or Tablet now, understanding the finer details of technology was still a bit beyond him.

"Would you like some help?" Phoebe, who had showed little interest in the device, asked her desk partner.

Ranma glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and nodded. "Aren't you guys supposed to be mad at me or something?"

Phoebe was a bit taken aback by his accusation, but she could not deny that they were a bit miffed that Ranma didn't explain what he meant by the 'girl problems.' Still, when it comes down to it, it was his life not hers. And over the course of the month she had grown... fond of the boy if nothing else. "I wouldn't say mad, but that is not something you should concern yourself with."

"Oh?" Ranma asked, still looking at the Cuckoo sister distrustfully. An understanding girl was a dangerous girl. That's how they strike you when you least expected it.

"You know I don't need this, you looked like you were struggling and I offered. Do it on your own," Phoebe declared and turned her nose at Ranma at his reaction. Honestly, there had been a sour note in their interactions since the day began and she did not like it. It also appeared to be escalating beyond what it should.

Ranma was shocked by the rebuke, but was lost as what to do. His interaction with Phoebe had always been somewhat friendly, even fun. Yet because of what happened at lunch, despite his conversation with Jean, he was going back to his old Nerima defensive mindset. He knew he had clearly upset the girl but she had not tried to press on any further.

Looking down at the object before him, his thoughts wondered when he had become so mistrustful of even friendliness from girls. He knew he wasn't always like this, he had accepted Akane's offer of friendship when he first met her after all. After that though, he stopped viewing girls as girls and start looking for motives underneath everything they did in a kind manner.

While his day started off alright, his entire mood had been thrown off. He was off balance and he knew it. Being in such a state, he lashed out first as a defensive measure and had acted rude toward Phoebe.

Suddenly Ranma's desire to finish the device quelled and he pushed the device away. His teacher gave a curious look his way but did not single him out for questioning.

As soon as the bell rung a moment later his desk partner stood up and left without a word, making him groan in response. He thought about chasing after her but found that he was at a loss as to do afterward. It wasn't his fault so why should he apologize. Yet he didn't want one of the people he considered a better friend then Ryoga, Mousse, Shampoo, or most people in Nerima to be angry at him. Conflicted, he chose to do nothing even as the students made their way over to the mentoring classes.

After a while he made his way over to his next mentoring class, which was not in a class room but instead was hosted outside by Amara Aquilla, aka Magma. It was also the same one Akane attended.

Upon entering the grounds, he was greeted by a familiar sight. Girls here and there were playing with their elemental powers, and he made sure he stayed as far away from the water users as possible. No need for his damn curse to activate. Though, thanks to Magma, he did pick up a neat little trick with his Ki pathways and was able to super heat his skin. Unfortunately, making yourself cold was one thing, super heating your blood and skin was another and it made him a bit woozy after. Still, he could turn cold water hot instantly upon contact. It was not ideal in rainy conditions, but accidental splashes of water wouldn't be so bad.

"Ranma!" Akane greeted her fiancée as she got closer to him. She had to admit, she was a bit nervous as he did not seem his usual self.

"Akane," Ranma greeted his fiancée and looked at her. Jean's words came back to him as he continued to look at her.

"Hey Ranma," A few more girls in class greeted the pigtailed boy with saucy waves. Most notably, were the fire users like Magma herself. Learning that Ranma could withstand lava induced heat had made girls, who had to reign in their literal fire-power, interested in the pig tail boy.

Ranma nervously waved back and sensed a dark presence where Akane was standing. Turning around, he was able to confirme that the dark presence was Akane looking none-too-happy.

"Ranma," Akane hissed under her breath. "Can you just not encourage them for one second?"

"I didn't!" Ranma hissed back and noticed that Akane had that unreasonable light in her eyes again.

"Whatever," Akane scoffed before she turned back and went to sit by her friends.

"Argghh!" Ranma growled in frustration, grabbing at his head before calming down. As usual, she had no problem angering him, just like he could piss her off over the littlest thing. Why did he have to be the one that backed down from everything?

Magma, in her black and yellow uniform, looked at her students and nodded. "Alright then, today's gonna be fun. I am going to have opposing elementals battle one another. "

The boys and girls in that class looked excited at the prospect. "I will naturally cut in if things get out of hand, but everyone will have a turn."

That started an excited chatter among the students as Magma started to separate the students of opposing elements into pairs.

"Ranma, Akane you will go against each other," Magma said, startling the two teens.

"Why me?" Akane asked looking over at Ranma.

"Since fire appears to be one of your best elements, we'll see how far you can go with it today," Magma told the Asian girl before turning to Ranma. "I believe you have some kind of ice-like move right? Let's go with that."

Ranma quickly stepped up to the teacher and whispered as low as he could. "Uhh, Teach, the Soul of Ice does make me cold but it's also a set up to another move."

Magma looked a bit surprised at that, she had only seen the Soul of Ice in action once. Akane told her before that Ranma could fire out cold Ki at an opponent, that's why she figured the two teens would be able stop if things got out of hand.

"Hmm, then Akane try to take on Blizz then," Magma corrected and saw the girl looked a bit miffed.

"Thanks teach," Ranma said gratefully. He didn't want to hit Akane with the Hiryuu Shoten Ha.

"Sure, though you have to explain what your skill is a set up to another time, okay?" Magma smiled at the pigtailed boy. Out of all the students, he seemed to be the most attentive to her lectures. She hadn't been a teacher long, but having students who applied her teachings was a most rewarding experience.

Ranma looked on as Akane took out and wore some type of metal glove and harness. Flames sprouted from the gloves, while across from Ranma was a guy who was controlling little icicles in his hand. Though he was nothing like the ice-covered Bobby Drake.

As if from some unseen signal, the fire that had been coming from Akane's gloves poured forth, giving him little flashback of what Saffron did at Jusendo. The ice user responded by firing off cold air at Akane. Akane's power was limited to the fact that she could only manipulate a small amount of any element, and only if it was available. Fire needed to be lit for her, and the larger the fire, the more she had to work with. However, she had to be careful as too much fire caused her to lose control. The same held true for water and, try as she might to manipulate air, Akane could only summon a light breeze that caused her to nearly pass out. Earth seemed to be her specialty. She was a bit more versatile, one of her moves being to create little mud balls that she could fire them at stinging speed.

The battle between the two elemental forces lasted a good five minutes, and only ended when Akane ran out of fuel cells in her harness suit. It was clear, however, that Akane had her opponent on the ropes for most of the contest. She raised her arm in victory, responding to the applause of her classmates.

"Not bad, tomboy," Ranma congratulated his fiancée and saw her shoot him a dirty glare, but grudgingly accept his praise.

The class went by far too quickly for Ranma's taste, because out of all the classes this one gave him the most ideas for new moves. Elements were well within the capabilities of Ki based attacks. He looked over to his fiancée, who appeared nervous about something.

Akane slowly approached Ranma as if wanting to say something to him. "S-say, Ranma...do you think that...umm..."

Ranma cocked his head, wondering what his fiancée could want as she seemed unusually nervous. She was even twiddling her thumbs.

"Wanna go hang out for a bit? Like not on school ground just... around the area?" Akane offered while looking anywhere else but at Ranma.

Blinking in surprised. "Ju- just me and you?" Ranma asked feeling nervous and self-conscious suddenly.

"Ye-yeah, I mean, we barely had anytime alone together and... even, like, when we came here and...you know...stuff happened, now that there doesn't seem to be anything getting in the way..." Akane stammered her way through, still twiddling her thumbs, before setting her face looking angry and embarrassed at the same time. "You wanna go or not?"

Ranma finally understood what Akane wanted and he had to admit, he had never gone anywhere without being harassed by the Nerima Wrecking Crew. Suddenly he grinned, the Nerima Wrecking Crew was an entire ocean away. No Nabiki to mess thing up, stupid Ryoga was lost, clingy Shampoo wasn't here and Ukyou couldn't try to guilt trip him. It was just him and Akane!

"Sure, let's go." Ranma agreed, grinning. He saw the tomboy smile back at him, and had to admit it did make her pretty cute. Almost un-tomboyish.

*** Jean Grey's Office ***

Jean smiled as little Saffron sat in one place playing with blocks and other toys she had bought him. Inside her office was a miniature kid's playground. The boy was bright for his age, and a lot more advanced than others. She couldn't help but be proud of the fact that he absorbed everything she taught him like a sponge.

To think that a little over a month ago he had turned into a fully grown adult trying to kill everyone. Thankfully, Ranma had subdued him and helped him revert back to his (almost) original form. She found that while she missed baby Saffron, the little kid version of the Phoenix King was a lot less needy and ten times more affectionate.

"Lady Grey, the paperwork for the day regarding the Institute's other renovations," Kiima, now dressed in a burgundy business suit, handed over the paper to the headmistress of the school.

Jean nodded. Lately, she had found the woman's service invaluable. Of course, the woman was only here because of Saffron, but she was not freeloading in the least and had asked to be of service in whatever way Jean deemed fit.

With Saffron more independent now, Kiima's role as his caretaker had lessened. So had she decided to become a pseudo-secretary for her benefactor instead. "Also, I believe that the conference regarding... the recent issue will be starting up soon."

That issue referred to the fact that Ranma's blood samples had been through a battery of tests under Hank, the Freedom Four Plaza and finally Stark Medical. Ranma had tested to be X-gene negative, which had caused Nick Fury to suggest the boy train at Avengers Academy instead, where even now future superhumans were being groomed.

As of right now, Jean planned on telling Ranma about Fury so that he could make his own choice, but the Professor and many of the teachers were against giving away one of their students on Fury's say so.

"Thank you Kiima," Jean looked to the woman before her who was gazing at the ruler of her people. "You will be fine with just you and him alone?"

"Worry not, I can still catch up to him quite easily at this age," Kiima smiled reassuringly.

"I hope so," Jean said as she looked over to her... son. "He keeps on slipping off to find Ranma at the most unexpected times and we both know how Ranma feels about him…"

Kiima grimaced at Jean's reminder. For reasons unknown, her Lord had doubly imprinted. He still considered Lady Grey his mother, but to consider Lord Ranma as his father after their fight... it boggled her mind. A deep scan from Lady Grey shortly after the incident with her Lord showed that Lord Saffron had not remembered anything from when that accursed gem bonded itself to him. Only that he appeared to have two people consistently in his mind, the first being Lady Grey, the second Lord Ranma.

"Lord Saffron is a lot more durable then he looks, though I have asked Lord Ranma to show mercy..."

Jean snorted a bit at the thought. She really wished Ranma would treat little Saffron better, but apparently the little lording thought that it was his 'father's' way of playing with him and so greatly enjoyed it. She found herself unable to deny him what he considered bonding time with his father. She had once tried to explain that it was would be better not to visit Ranma, only to be confronted with the saddest look on the child's face. So while she cared for him most of the time, when he did slip off to find Ranma she didn't mind it too much.

"So anything else on the agenda?"

"That is all for today," Kiima almost bowed before she remembered to stop. Lady Grey had given her strict orders not to show that kind of courtesy to her. It was then she saw Jean's head tilt to a side, gazing in the distance, a sign that she was communicating with another mind reader. A moment later Lady Grey's eyes came back into focus, but the expression on her face was odd.

"Lady Grey?"

Jean face however remained pensive at the news the Professor had just given her.

*** Winchester Park, New York ***

Almost a mile away from the Xavier Institute, a young couple walked along seemingly content with one another. Anyone that saw them could only agree that they made a cute couple.

"So..." Akane glanced out of the corner of her eyes to her fiancee. "Are you enjoying... this?"

Ranma glanced back shyly but gave a small nod.

Akane couldn't help but feel happy at the thought; she was finally making progress with Ranma! Real progress! Not to mention there was no one here to distract Ranma. "Sooo... now that we are... you know... alone..."

He saw Akane blush but she did not walk further away from him. "Yes?" Ranma gently prodded.

"Do-doesn't this, heh, heh, feel nice?" Akane asked, suddenly feeling shy. "You know... nobody bothering us."

Red faced, Ranma nodded affirmative. "Y-yeah, no bacon breath, your sister not turning a profit from this and no crazy amazons right?"

Akane narrowed her eyes at the insults to Ryoga and her family but decided to let them slide. Suddenly, in a moment of bravery, she closed the already small distance between them until her shoulder was bumping that of Ranma's.

The pigtailed boy froze up initially at the contact, thinking that he had mistakenly bumped into his fiancee. However he did not see the red-faced Akane pulling away, in fact it felt like she was leaning into him.

"Why couldn't we ever enjoy moments like this back in Nerima?" Akane wondered honestly.

"Well, you know how it goes," Ranma chuckled in amusement thinking that this was his first real moment of peace with Akane since he met her. "No one wants anybody else to come out on top, ya know."

"Well, if you put your foot down maybe they wouldn't bother us so much," Akane joked and Ranma returned the gesture.

"Oh, I do. I even put my foot up their asses, but it doesn't seem to help." Ranma sighed exaggeratedly, making Akane giggle.

After another moment of silence where the two walked the concrete path, Akane looked over to Ranma and took in his profile. She had always found it pleasing despite her denial of it.

"Oh hey, want some ice cream? My treat," Ranma offered as he saw an ice cream stand not too far away.

"You going to scam the poor man?" Akane asked with a wry smile.

"Hey, I was gonna pay," Ranma indignantly replied. "Just for that I'm getting two while you just get one."

"Yeah, yeah," Akane egged on.

A minute later, after receiving her ice cream cone, Akane and Ranma continued their date/not date.

Sensing that the mood was right, Akane looked over to Ranma and asked a question that she had been thinking about for a few days. "So... Ranma."

"Hmm?" Ranma prompted as he slowly enjoyed the ice cream in his male form. Apparently in America, there is none of that stigma about being girly for eating sweets.

"After we graduate, what do you plan on doing?" Akane blurted out, looking at Ranma's reaction.

Ranma looked at Akane with a puzzled expression. "Go back to Japan probably, why?"

Akane looked pensive at that, and told Ranma a decision she had made after attending the Xavier institute for the past month. "Ranma, I think I want to join the Elite Program after I graduate."

That brought the pigtailed boy to an abrupt stop as he looked at his fiancee. "What?!"

"I want to become a member of the X-Men," Akane continued on. "I want to help others like me and help save the world."

"What about the dojo?" Ranma asked frowning.

It was Akane's turn to look at Ranma strangely. "What about it?"

"I mean, weren't we suppose to run it together after we get ma-ma-married?" Ranma asked blushing while glancing at the girl from the corner of his eyes.

"We don't need to be married to run the Dojo," Akane said with an unreadable tone in her voice.

"Yes we do," Ranma countered as he blinked his eyes. "I mean that's the entire reason we're engaged right there."

Akane stopped abruptly and looked over at Ranma, her eyes searching his face as if seeing him for the first time. "Are you telling me that we wouldn't be engaged if not for the Dojo?"

Ranma not realizing the double meaning behind Akane's words nodded his head. "Well isn't it obvious? If I didn't have the engagement to you, then it would probably be Ukyou who'd be my fiancee by now, or the Daikoku girl."

Akane stood, staring at Ranma, making the pigtailed boy fidget on the spot.

"What's the matter?" Ranma asked as Akane's face had become eerily neutral.

"Ranma," Akane began, her eyes boring deep into Ranma's own. "Are you only marrying me out of obligation?"

Ranma however, sensed the tone and decided to answer her question with a question of his own. "Akane, what is this all about?"

Akane continued to look at Ranma. "Ranma, would you have married Ukyou if there was no engagement to me?"

Frowning Ranma nodded. "If there was no engagement to you? Yeah, I'd be honor-bound too."

"So... I'm also an honor-bound engagement to you then?" Akane asked abruptly.

"Well, yeah," Ranma answered, but quickly explained. "However that was only at first, now I don't mind being married to you, ya know?"

"Don't mind being married to me?" Akane repeated Ranma's last phrase. "Are you telling me that out of me, Shampoo and Ukyou, you 'chose' to marry me because you liked me best?"

"Well yeah," Ranma answered, puzzled about Akane's train of thought. He then suddenly blushed as he had just casually admitted to liking Akane. However, it seemed that did not please the girl at all, and there was a heavy air about her. "Akane?"

"Ranma," Akane spoke, up once more looking at Ranma with a piercing look. "If there was no dojo, no engagement, no loss of... honor. Would you want to marry me?"

Ranma was shocked at Akane's question. How was he supposed to answer that? If he had a choice he didn't want to marry anyone. He liked Akane, perhaps could even come to really love her in time. But if asked if he could be free of engagement? Of course he would, he was only sixteen. The whole engagement was their father's idea anyway. He didn't want to be saddled with such a heavy burden early on, but he learned to accept the inevitable and made the best of it. It was his luck that he had come to like Akane.

"That's all I needed to know," Akane said suddenly as she turned around and walked away from Ranma. "I'm heading back.

"Wait Akane!" Ranma said running after her. "What's did I do wrong?"

Akane however continued to walk, ignoring Ranma inquiry.

"Akane!"Ranma grabbed the girl's shoulder and turned her around to face him, only to see the tears in her eyes. "Akane?"

"Just leave me alone for now Ranma," Akane said sadly and broke out of Ranma's grip before leaving the confused pigtailed boy looking after her.

*** The Next Day***

Ranma let the warm water cascade over his body as he leaned against the shower. His mind was still thinking about what had occurred between him and Akane. Everything had been going so well, yet all of a sudden it had turned sour. Try as he might he couldn't think of a reason why he had made Akane cry! He even said he liked her and would be willing to marry her. What more could she want? Wasn't the reason why they fought all those times before because he wouldn't come out and say it?

So why now, all of a sudden, when he was fine with it she became sad?

"Attention students, this is your headmaster Charles Xavier. Homeroom has been canceled today for a special assembly in the auditorium. Please proceed there after breakfast."

"Hmm, I wonder what's going on," Ranma muttered to himself before turning off the shower and getting dressed in his trademark Chinese clothes.

+++Auditorium+++

Ranma walked in with a group of students and saw that the assembly hall was already half-filled with students from the school. Looking around, he spotted Akane sitting next to Rogue, the girl looked to be talking softly to his fiancée. He began to make his way over when Akane looked up and spotted him. There appeared to be red in her eyes and a sad look still on her face. Giving him another sad look she turned around and faced the stage.

"Yo Ranma over here!" Evan's familiar voice called.

Spotting Evan with Beak, he made his way toward them. Idly he noted that the Cuckoo sisters had chosen to sit all the way in the front. Sybil was with a new student and gave him a warm wave before sitting down.

"Hey Ranma!" Beak greeted his friend as he moved over so that Ranma could sit between him and Evan.

"Where's Myst?" Evan asked, looking around the auditorium and spotted the girl with the Cuckoos.

"You guys know what's going on?" Ranma asked Evan after having spotted Myst, who spotted him in turn and gave him a warm wave. At least she wasn't mad at him.

"No clue, I think this is the first time we've had a special assembly," Evan told Ranma as other students started to fill in the seats all around them. "What about you, Beak?"

Beak shook his head a bit nervously. He was relatively new friends with Evan, but was still not used to actually having friends. "I think you've been here longer than me, s-sorry."

"Ah it's okay, my Aunt wouldn't tell me about it either, she didn't look too happy though." Evan's replied conspiratorially to his two friends.

"Daddy!"

Ranma, who had been sitting peacefully, felt a rocket slam into his gut as the child Phoenix hugged his waist with a vice-like clawed grip. "Gah! What the hell, didn't I get rid of you this morning?!"

"That was fun daddy!" The child-Saffron chirped with a happy expression. "Can you throw me higher next time?"

Ranma's eyes twitched and was about to throw Saffron high just like the kid requested when he saw his two friend looking at him with barely contained laughter. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up ya jerks."

The two boys took that as an okay signal and burst out in laughter, earning them an odd look from the students close by.

"You know, at first I didn't know whether to be angry at you for having a child with Ms. Grey or congratulating you for scoring with Ms. Grey," Evan whispered so that only Ranma and Beak could hear him. "However, knowing the truth of it all, I can only feel pity for you, my friend."

"My ass, Evan," Ranma growled. "Kiss it."

Evan flipped Ranma off with the one-finger salute and a grin on his face before sitting back down on his chair, facing forward.

Beak remained silent at the banter between the two boys, mainly because he wasn't raised that way, but he was glad to have been included.

"Saffron?" Ranma looked at the child Phoenix who as contently sitting in his lap.

"Yes daddy?"

Glaring a quick warning to Evan he looked down at the being. "Why don't you go and find your 'mother' and go play with her?"

Evan quickly turned his head away from Ranma while holding a closed fist to his mouth to contain his laughter.

"No! You don't play with me as much as mommy," Saffron pouted looking dejected. "I miss you."

"Urk," Ranma felt as if stabbed. He really couldn't give two shits about Saffron, but just from the kid's standpoint he has been neglectful as a 'father'. Looking up he cursed the gods at what he was about to do next. "Fine, you can stay here with me but be on your best behavior, got it?"

"Yes Daddy!" Saffron answered happily, folding his wings to his back, and sat contently on Ranma's knee.

Behind the child, Ranma massaged his forehead but let it lie.

_'Oh good, he's with you after all, I'll send Kiima to get him from you,'_ Jean thought suddenly into Ranma's head.

Looking up he spotted his therapist assembling with the other teachers. Her eyes were also dancing with amusement as she took in his situation.

_'Nah, it's okay, I got him,' _Ranma thought back and grinned victoriously as he saw the shocked expression on her face after he answered.

Jean suddenly had a fretful expression on her face._ 'Are you sure?'_

_'Yes, I got it,'_ Ranma thought back confidently.

There was a moment of silence before Jean tentatively asked. _'… You're not going to hurt him are you?'_

_'What?'_ Ranma thought back, glaring at Jean. '_What kind of father do you think I am?!'_

_'I didn't think you were a father at all honestly,'_ Jean smirked in reply.

Ranma blinked at this admittance and groaned. _'You know what I meant!'_

Jean could only give a Cheshire grin. _'Have fun... 'Daddy.'_

Ranma could feel the snickering in her tone as she waved at him from the stage and went back to talking with the X-Men.

"Ahem, students, can I have your attention please." Dr. Hank McCoy stood at the podium and looked at the assembled students. "Since we are all here, I believe the Professor has some very exciting news he would like to share with you all."

The students clapped as the Headmaster of their school rolled to the podium and looked out at the assembled students. One could see the pride shining in his eyes, and in turn the students felt that much more proud of their Professor.

"Students, Ladies, Gentlemen, Colleagues," Professor Xavier began before he looked surprised and looked at the teachers sitting in a single file row. "Oh, and Wolverine too, of course."

There was a loud bout of laughter from the student body at the Professor's joke at the expensive of Wolverine. Wolverine popped his middle claw out to the Professor in kind, which earned a riotous laugh from the student body.

After the laughter died down, the Professor looked at the students and began.

"Years ago when I first founded this school, it was to help young, scared, gifted children find a home when they had nowhere to go. Society had branded them mutants, and hated them because of their great gift, OUR great gift."

There was a low murmuring from the student body as many of them could relate.

"However, before my very eyes, they grew to become scholars, entrepreneurs, and heroes in the very world that hated them. Everything that had been denied them, they earned it all back and more. I could not be more proud of my students, my X-Men, for all that they have accomplished."

There was a loud roaring as the teachers seated on the stands received a standing ovation from the student body. After the applause died down, Professor Xavier continued.

"It is because of them that I can sit here before you today, for they have volunteered to be your teachers, your mentors. To help guide you all and unlock your potential. I could never have imagined that I would see so many bright young minds sitting here before me today. Truly, I thank you for attending this school for the gifted."

There was another roar of applause from the student body as they felt nothing but admiration for the wheelchair-bound man.

"However, you are all probably wondering why I called you here. I assure you it was not to toot my own horn at our achievements."

There was laughter, but it came from the teachers sitting on stage.

"No, as you know, where-ever there is achievement, there will be people who would want to belittle it."

There was silence in the hall now as the students looked on at the Professor.

"I am here to tell you that yesterday, I received a called from the President of the United States."

The news was surprising enough to start a rush of low curious whispers.

"It appears that our old friend Magneto, ruler of Genosha, went to our president with a proposition."

The low whisper became out right talking, after all, everyone knew about Magneto. After a while the talking settled down as they turned to their headmaster.

"Magneto wanted to pit his best students, the ones from Genosha's top school, against the best students our school has to offer."

There was a moment of stunned silence before all the students started talking at once.

"Settle down!" Wolverine roared, shutting the students up. "Let the Professor continue."

The students looked over to the Headmaster anxiously.

"As you know because of our... special abilities, we cannot compete in any school competitions. For that I am truly sorry."

Some of the student looked away but did not answer.

"However, Magneto wanted to make this such a competition, his top mutant school versus the United States top mutant school," The Professor said looking at the students. "I know Magneto, and I know he comes here with the intent to humiliate us for not joining him at Genosha. To prove his methods are better."

There was some angry muttering coming from the students, but under Wolverine's careful watch they remained mutterings.

"I had declined to give an answer to our President, after all, I could not make the decision for you. That is why I held the assembly today, to get your thoughts. Students, would you like to compete against the top mutant school in Genosha?"

There was absolute silence to the Professor's question as the stunned students were still trying to process it. However Wolverine stepped in front of the podium and looked out at all the students.

"What the Professor is really asking is if you want to kick some Genoshian ASS!"

As one the entire student body roared in approval as they started to chant Xavier's name over and over again.

Ranma looked around at the students roaring so loudly in approval that it scared Saffron into hiding his head in the crook of his arms. Taking pity on the kid, Ranma gently patted him on his head. He even saw Evan and Beak cheering loudly. He could feel the electricity in air as the students got hyped up.

"I wonder who this magnet guy is, anyway," Ranma pondered as he continued to soothe Saffron.

TBC!

AN: And SO the Supremacy Arc begins! I was told to prepare for "Ranma always answer a challenge" debate that might or might not happen. Frankly, for me, I explained it in the dialogue as to why, Ranma have always brush off challenge that he considered not worth his time. The other party always forces the damn issue so he respond in kind.

Any who that being said, I have litter this chapter with plot threads some directly related to this arc, some related to the meta arc :D By the time it's over I hope the readers would go "Oh! So that's it!" Anyway work is starting back up so chapters will be slower and fewer in between I'd imagine.

Also final note, of course Ranma liked Akane, he even grew to eventually love her but it's more because of the fact that he made himself comfortable with the idea in my mind when reading Takahashi works. Saving a girl all the time, fighting for her, well you either develop special feelings for her are hate her guts for being clumsy. Ranma is also all about honor, he wouldn't forsake honor just to be with Akane. If there is no Tendo then then it would be Ukyou since Akane would just be a side character.

It's all about perception and that's my take on it. Even in the wedding, Ranma didn't walk down the isle willingly he was dragged and was like "Well, since I am here, let's get it over with." He never got on one knee and asked Akane.

ANYWHO :D Thanks for all the awesome review in the last chapter :D

As always C+C welcome reviews appreciated!


	7. Supremacy:Part Two

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

The following fic was proudly edited by Death and Cheese :D

Homo Superior

Supremacy: Part Two

**** Xavier Institute****

Today was a special day for the students of Xavier's School for Higher Learning. In addition to having no classes for the day, other than a extendedhomeroom, today was the day they were going to meet their counterparts from Genosha.

For the past week, the entire school grounds and everything within a 5 mile radius had been patrolled by federal agents under the guidance of S.H.I.E.L.D personnel. To add even more chaos , various news crews from around the country were having their equipment scanned and backgrounds checked by security.

As if that wasn't enough, several billion dollar corporations had secured sponsorships for both Xavier's School and the Team from Genosha. If one didn't know better, the proceedings could have mistaken for the World Cup or Superbowl. Many of the students, whether they had any particular jobs or not, had already been out and about, lending a hand. Then there were the students that would actively participate in high power games of classic team sports like Soccer, American Football, Baseball, Basketball and Hockey, who were training vigorously for the competition. There were several others as well, testing speed types, strength types, agility type and unique types. The majority of the student body would be too distracted in the upcoming week to even concentrate on school.

All of this however, meant little to Ranma as he sat in the entertainment room watching the news coveragewith Beak. Evan and Myst had, to his amazement, joined teams for the upcoming event. Evan for boys' basketball and Myst for female volleyball.

"This is Maley O' Bannon reporting from WOLF News Network, reporting live on the street of Westchester to get the pulse of the people" a strong chinned white male said on the big LCD screen. He saw a middle aged couple walking and quickly approached them. "Excuse me, you two, how do you feel about what people are already calling the 'Mutant Olympics'?"

The woman, who had pretty kind eyes and brown hair, looked uncomfortable at the camera in her face but responded. "I don't think it's too bad, I been living here all my life and those kids need some form of healthy competition."

"And you sir?" Maley turned away from the woman to the man.

"I say that Xavier's Mutants will win! WOOOHOO!" The man yelled excitedly. "Go Team USA!"

The woman looked at her husband and sighed while the new reporter looked slightly irate.

"So you don't discriminate against mutants?" Maley tried to egg on, but the man, if anything, looked more excited.

"What? I don't care. Right now all I care about is them taking the gold back home! Go Team XAVIER!"

"Thank you sir," Maley said a bit disappointed and look back to the camera. "You heard it here, the mood appears celebratory, if nothing else, from the locals. Whether it will stay that way remains to be seen, back to you Roger."

"Thank you Bannon," A suave man with a sharp goatee smiled charmingly at the camera. "There you have it folks. Not too long ago there were protestors right outside of the campus of the Xavier institute, but the animosity seems to have vanished in the past week leading up to the event. However, only time will tell as to whether this unity will last."

There was some shuffling of papers on his the news Anchor's desk before he began. "In other news, there have been senators who opposed the mutant competition, saying that it is discriminatory to regular students. The House was in favor of supporting the U.S only mutant school, and is concerned that anti-mutant organizations might use this as a way to attack the children at the school. Among them, names like U-Men and the Puri-"

**-Click-**

"Same shit every day," Ranma turned off the T.V and stretched as he glanced at the clock which was close to nine now.

The week had passed by relatively fast for Ranma. Among the chaos that has been going on for the past week, there was the fact that he had still been unable to talk with Akane or the Cuckoos. Thankfully, he had been able to apologize to Myst, who had only looked at him oddly in return. Then his therapy session with Jean had been canceled due to her increased workload over the sponsors she had to coordinate with.

"You sure you don't want to join one of the sports?" Beak spoke up to his friend. "It's not too late. I mean there still spots for the baseball team and the Markmans' competition."

"Eh," Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "Team sports ain't my thing."

Beak could only shake his head at the colossal waste of an opportunity that was Ranma. If he had Ranma's ability, he would have joined as many of the teams as possible to become popular. Yet Ranma seemed perfectly content to wallow in obscurity, excluding fighting. Already, he had witnessed the battle between Ryoga, a rock type mutant, and Ranma. It was awe inspiring how Ranma was unafraid of something that large and fast coming at him.

"If I had half of your abilities..." Beak lamented to his friend.

"Well, you could, join me for my morning training at any time and I'd be happy to give you a few pointers," Ranma offered as he and Beak walked into the kitchen area to look for drinks.

"But you get up so early!" Beak whined. He was a dedicated worker, but Ranma was a machine.

"Hey, aren't you like a bird type?" Ranma pointed out as he took some Kool-Aid from fridge. "Strength is that worm, so wake up and get it."

Beak flailed around a bit, but thanked Ranma after the pig-tailed boy handed him a glass as well. After a moment of silence, he looked back to his friend. "So what do you think the other mutants from Genosha are like?"

"I dunno," Ranma responded to his friend. Having not met them yet, he had not yet formed an opinion, the complete opposite of everyone else. From what he heard in the hallways, the Genoshian mutants were all brainwashed mutant supremacist and, just in general, assholes.

The two remained silent for a while as they looked out the windows onto the school ground and saw students and work crews setting up and doing some final checks.

"Ranma, Beak, it's almost time, you two should make your way to the assembly," Sybil said as she walked downstairs, dressed in her pink and yellow elite uniform.

Beak was speechless as his eyes filled with hearts, while Ranma had to wonder why the X-men women wore such form-fitting clothes. "Really? Alright we'll make our way. Let's go Beak."

Beak's eyes, however, were still riveted to the cat girl, even as his friend grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him away.

+++ Special Assembly Area+++

Ranma arrived in the designated area to see students mingling over a large swath of grass as corporate banners and labels could be seen everywhere.

"Made it."

A dreamy sigh from Beak was all that came back as the pig tailed boy looked to his friend. "She looks so perfect..."

"Yeah she's pretty but you gotta build up the balls to ask her out man," Ranma encouraged, completely ignoring the hypocrisy of his statement. Anything else he wanted to say was cut off when a familiar purple skinned girl walked up to him.

"Ranma," Claire Ferguson, aka Blink, greeted politely. She looked like she hadn't had a good night's rest for a while, judging by the bags under her eyes.

"Blink," Ranma returned the greeting and saw the girl looked a bit haggard. "You alright?"

The girl however did not seem to be in the mood for pleasantries, but instead looked at Ranma with desperate hope in her eyes. "Ranma, Akane said that you would know more about Ryoga then her, can you tell me if there is any way at all to track him down?"

Ranma looked at the girl with a frown. Ryoga had been 'missing' for the past week, which caused his guide/babysitter to fret endlessly. He had thought it would be a simple matter of tracking him down via that GPS they gave the stone boy, but now it appeared to be for naught.

"Sorry, sir piggy finds me, not the other way around," Ranma replied after a few moments of thought he saw Blink grimace a bit as to how he referred to Ryoga, but he didn't care. Ryoga was a pig. "He'll turn up eventually."

Blink's eyes took on a downcast look and she mumbled her thanks before leaving.

"You're not concerned for your missing friend?" Beak asked, looking at Ranma, who appeared to be none too concerned about a missing student.

Ranma had to give it some thought, was Ryoga a friend? He had thought he was before all the battles and death threats, but Pig-boy always got lost anyway, him being missing for weeks was nothing new. "If I don't see him for a year I'll worry, but I think the longest I ever went without seeing him was three weeks."

Beak dropped the subject matter and looked at the crowds. The elites and participating students, including Evan and Myst, were at the front. Contestants for the Xavier school all wore yellow and white with an X design engraved on their body.

"Look Beak," Ranma said pointing up in the sky as several dots appeared over the horizon.

Beak, while having what he considered a weak mutation, had excellent vision and followed Ranma's arm to see over a hundred dots in the distance. Slowly, other students caught onto it as they also turned their heads to look at the sky.

"Whoa, that's a lot of ships."

"Nah man, most of those are escort fighters."

"Really? Isn't that kind of stupid? They're made of metal and Magneto controls that!"

"I believe they got special shields so, one wrong move and they'll blow him out of the sky."

"Brutal!"

The first to pass overhead was a squadron of U.S Fighter jets. There were oohs and aahs from the gathered students as the fighters banked around and began to circle the area. Then, five massive transports emblazoned with the helmet of Magneto passed by, closely followed by the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter jets.

Slowly, the five massive transports began their descent onto the school grounds while the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighters began an aerial patrol, leaving only the Helicarrier above the school. Two S.H.I.E.L.D. transports seemed to break off and landed with the Genoshian transport.

There was a heavy gust of wind as the transport descended, landing with a heavy thud. The students held their breath at the moment of silence that followed. Despite their ideological differences, no one could deny that Magneto and his followers were dangerous and to be respected. Suddenly the back hatch to the transport opened, and dressed in his trademark outfit was Magneto, flanked by his right hand man, Exodus, along with other Brotherhood members: Polaris, Domino, Shatterstar, Mystique, Sabertooth, and Blob.

The students remained quiet as the master of magnetism slowly walked down the ramp. Only Professor X moved to greet him. The two men shared a long history of conflict with one another. One hopeful for mutant co-existence, the other strove toward mutant domination.

"Charles," Magneto spoke up first, a clear sign that no matter what had happened, or might ever happen, he would always respect the crippled man before him.

"Erik," Professor X greeted in return. He would always find it a pity that the two could never work together for the betterment of mutant kind.

Magneto looked around and smirked at the X-men, eliciting a growl from Wolverine, then at the assembled students, as if measuring every one of them. Finally, he turned his eyes to look at the news reporters; their cameras pointed at him and the 'escort' around them.

"Quite a welcome for a friendly competition between old friends," Magneto said loudly, directly aiming his comment at the outsiders. "One would think that they are here to film a freak show for their own amusement."

"Or," Professor X countered smoothly. "They are here to simply observe, and perhaps find out that we are not so different from them."

"Well said Charles," Magneto conceded before throwing in his last shot. "I guess we'll see how it turns out, won't we?"

"May the best school win, Erik." Professor X held out his hand in friendship to the leader of Genosha.

"Yes, may it." Magneto responded, and the moment he shook his old friend hand, dozens of flashes went off all at once. "With your permission, I would like a chance for my students to settle in. They have been cooped up in the transport for quite a long time."

"Of course. We have prepared a special dormitory for you and your students and I trust it will be satisfactory." the Professor commented lightly.

"My thanks Charles," Magneto nodded and waved his students to come forth. From the back of the five transports, students of all types and shapes walked down from the transport, some glaring at the cameras, others eyeing the student body disdainfully.

Sabertooth took this time to get close to Wolverine and taunt him. "I hope there won't be any unfortunate... accidents during the competition 'Professor' Logan."

It took all of Wolverine's willpower to not pop open his claws and attack his hated rival. Instead, he returned the gesture. "Oh I am sure the kids will be well behaved 'Professor' Creed."

"Enough." Cyclops spoke up, looking at the two men. "Logan, we need to set an example."

Wolverine grudgingly accepted the slight reprimand and walked off to talk with the Elites.

Cyclops then turned to Sabertooth and stepped fearlessly closer to the animal mutant, lowering his voice to a whisper. "If you step out of line or put anyone in danger, I _will_ end you."

In a fluid motion, the leader of the X-men left the bestial man, who only grinned darkly at the threat.

Ranma took all of this in with great interest, categorizing the mutants that he saw. There were the obvious flying types, elemental types and power types, but he hadn't felt any brushes against his mind, so he didn't know if there were any telepathic types yet. He then saw the staff members and dignitaries of Genosha exit the transport along with a security detail.

"Damn, they've been trained." Ranma spoke up for Beak's ears as he looked over some of the visiting students. "Not bad, not bad at all."

Beak looked over to his friend, trying to see what Ranma was talking about. "How can you tell?"

"From the way they move, their students are about on par with you guys," Ranma conceded, it was the uniformed people in masks that concerned him. They were efficient in their movement, and adding that to whatever mutant power they had, it could be dicey.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Beak asked as the students started talking softly amongst themselves.

"Train." Ranma spoke up. "At least until the opening Ceremony."

"But that's eight hours from now!" Beak squawked in surprise.

"So?" Ranma replied, looking at Beak. "Training is training. You're welcome to come you know."

"Errr... no thank you," Beak declined as he looked at his friend moving off on his own.

++++ Five Hours Later++++

"Huyah!" Ranma shouted as he punched through yet another tree. Turning quickly, he jumped up and did a vicious combo to counter his imaginary opponent, followed by yet another counter.

Cupping his hands, he fired his Moko Takabisha at the imaginary mutant. He had been doing his current exercise for twenty minutes when he sensed another presence in the forest. Stopping abruptly, he turned in the direction of the presence and saw a sexy red head enter the clearing. The woman wore a sleek, black skin tight suit that was only halfway zipped, leaving very little to the imagination.

"Ranma Saotome, I presume?" The redhead asked in a sultry voice.

Had Ranma been a normal man, he would have been incredibly turned on by the tone. However, since Shampoo used a similar tone daily, he was now immune to its effects. "You're too old to be a fiancée... You got a daughter you engage me to or something?"

The woman looked a bit taken aback, but let out a light laugh. "I had thought the profile was lying, but it's true about your fiancée situation, how adorable."

Ranma cocked his head to one side and looked at the woman. "Yeah, yeah, let it happen to you. Then we'll see how adorable you find it."

"Oh, I have had many a fiancée," the redheaded woman replied lightly. "But my problem is the opposite of yours. My fiancées tend to die after we marry."

Looking warily at the woman, he took in her motions and concluded that she was a fighter. "What do you want from me then?"

"Do you know who I am?" the redhead asked.

"Should I?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"Would you humor me with a light spar?" the redhead asked as she got into a ready stance.

Ranma was about to decline, until he saw her coil up in a unique stance he'd never seen before. Interesting. "Sure, let's go."

The moment he agreed the woman punched her hand forward, and something from her wrist shot at him. He was able to narrowly dodge it at the last second, only to find another shot was already headed his way and struck him. To his surprise the attack stung, and he felt a tingling numbing sensation. That was when the woman closed in on him and did an elegant kick, catching him right beneath his chin and rattling his jaw.

Shaking his head, clear, he felt two more stinging sensations directly on his chest, numbing his body further. "What- what the hell?"

However, his only reply from the redhead was an ax kick to his head, stunning him, followed by another spinning kick that sent him reeling once more. She then sent two more shots at him; one directly at him, and a second in the direction he was going to dodge. At the last moment he adjusted his body and was only grazed by his right shoulder. He felt it start to go numb when the woman in black unleashed a combo all at his vital points.

Whoever this woman was, she was good, deadly, and efficient and she had caught him off-guard. Still, he was Ranma Saotome, and he wasn't going to let this woman get the upper hand. Letting his Ki flood his body, he forced his partly numbed body to move and evade her next attack. If the woman was surprised, she didn't show it but instead continued to attack him with stinging electrical shots.

Finally, he felt tingling across his body, letting him know that feeling had returned, and he began to counter attack. First, he went right through her defense with a fast punch, tagging her below her ribs. To which she expertly went with the flow to lessen the damage. Then in the same motion, she tried to spin and hit him with a quick back hand strike.

Ranma was ready, however, and brought his arms up to block the attack before he quickly punched her in the face. It would bruise, but he had been careful not to break anything. Not letting up, he feinted going after her with his leg, making her back pedal only to close the distant between them with a quick hop and punching at her stomach.

This time, the woman blocked the attack with both her arms crossed and used that momentum to do a flip kick into Ranma's face.

Ranma blocked the first kick, as well as the succeeding kick from her other leg before returning with his own kick, which she expertly blocked once again. Grinning now, Ranma decided to up the ante and speed as he threw up a flurry of punches and kicks, noting that she moved elusively and with great expertise, always rolling with the harder hits and always ready with a counter attack. She kind of reminded him of... well, him. He even noted that her punches were stronger than normal, but then, now that he was starting to recover and deflect her little stingers on her wrist. He noted that she was backing up slowly, as if baiting him. Suddenly she didn't block a full punch, but let it sail on through, and, to his horror, he landed a full power punch on her and watch her fold over his arms.

"Oh crap!" Ranma said in alarm and let his guard down to check on the woman, only to be surprised when in a fluid motion she hooked her arms with his and use it to get behind him. At least, that's what would have happened had he not countered her move with his own and instead hooked his arm tightly to hers and swung her against the tree bark.

"Ugh!" The woman had the air expelled from her lungs, but the pig tail boy was merciless as he tried to turn her around and put her in a submission hold.

With amazing agility, the woman turned around and pulled out a little needle, intending to stab Ranma in the neck with it.

Ranma saw the needle and grabbed the wrist that held it, intending to throw her against the ground only for her to wrap her legs around his waist to prevent him doing so. He countered this the best way he knew how, and fell down with her, making her take the brunt of the fall as he grabbed both her arms and held it above her head leaving her with not enough leverage to move him. Facing the woman in black, he glared at her, by now the numbing sensation was gone and he was just agitated.

"Lady, that was no spa-umm?!" Ranma had begun found himself wide eye as he was kissed passionately by the red head. Reacting quickly, he tried to separate himself from the woman only to find her long shapely legs had a firm grip on his waist, preventing his escape.

It was then Ranma sensed danger as his surprised at being kissed, his gripped had loosened on the woman's wrists and she whipped out quickly to try and stabbed him. Luckily he was quicker, and with uncaring strength pulled her off of him and tossed her aside roughly. He saw her land roughly before she slowly got to her feet, her eyes shining with merriment as she dusted off her clothes.

"Very good." The woman in black said as she looked at Ranma with a grin. "In all facets."

"This is what you call a spar?!" Ranma shouted back, keeping his distance away from the woman, his face still burning hot from the searing kiss moments ago.

Suddenly, the woman's wristbands changed into something else as her hand moved quickly and little mini gunshots could be heard.

Ranma didn't move, as he didn't sense any of the bullets were going to hit him, but her draw speed was quick. Incredibly so. Looking behind him, he noticed the general shape and outline of his body behind the tree.

"If I was serious and this was a real fight, I would have brought these out." the woman in black replied easily as she looked at the boy. "My name is Natasha Romanoff, Code Name Black Widow, a member of the Avengers."

Ranma's eyes widened in surprise, and looked at the woman before him. He could believe it, that she was an Avenger. She was highly skilled and efficient, all of her attacks lead to the next, like a spider's trap. There was no hesitation in her actions, they were all confident and fluid, and for a group that saved the world on a daily basis, he would expect that type of discipline. The woman before him had it in spades. Every one of her actions meant something, and directed toward a bigger goal. In terms of martial arts, she was good, not as good as him, but as loathe as he was to admit it, she was a lot more cunning and was willing to do things he wouldn't.

"So is this about the offer to go to Avengers Academy?" Ranma asked, looking at the woman before him, still on his guard.

"Good, you still don't trust me," Natasha said smiling. "Never let your guard down. Even around friends."

"That's a shitty way to think," Ranma countered, but had to agree that even among his allies in the wrecking crew it would have been ill advised to let his guard down.

"But you know it's true," Natasha quipped back, and left herself completely open while approaching him. "After doing our research, Fury seems very interested in you, I being a human member of the team with light enhancement and an expert fighter was chosen to assess if you were worthy."

"And did I pass this 'test' of yours?" Ranma asked tersely, wondering why the woman left herself so open to attack now. If he wanted to he could attack her, when it suddenly occurred to him, she knew he wouldn't attack her. She was confident in that fact and as loathe as he was to admit it, she was right.

"Oh with flying colors," Natasha nodded. As she went over by Ranma's little camp fire and dug in his backpack. Finding a granola bar, she opened it and ate it.

"Hey!" Ranma spoke up as he marched over to the woman. "What're you doing eating my food!"

"Well, you were pretty hard to track down," Natasha easily stated as she chewed on the granola bar. "I mean, I had tailed you right after you left the Institute, but damn you could jump. Also begrudging a girl food isn't manly."

"Urk," Ranma acted as if struck as his mother man among men ideology came to the forefront. Still looking at the woman he glared at her. "Well if this is how you recruit all your members I can say it's not earning you any points."

"And I'm not trying too," Natasha replied easily. After swallowing the next bite she looked at Ranma. "Simply put, as you are right now, you are not Avengers material anyway. I wouldn't even recommend you to the Academy."

Now Ranma didn't want to go to the Academy, but being dismissed like that still irked him. "Hey! I just kicked your butt!"

"Yes you did, and others have beaten me down before, that doesn't make them Avengers material." Natasha replied easily.

Ranma was at a loss, expecting her to be offended at the reminder of her defeat. "So you're saying you don't want me for Avengers Academy after all? Then why the hell you came all the way out here to test me?"

Natasha finished off the rest of the granola bar and tossed the wrapper on the ground. "For sure. Of course, you probably don't even belong in the X-men."

"Well duh, I'm not a mutant." Ranma retorted in a condescending tone.

"That has nothing to do with it, the Avengers have mutants on our team, Wolverine is one such Avenger, for them to have a superhuman on their team is no different." Natasha stated in a factual tone. "You do not belong to either organization. Don't get me wrong, you have great skill, you simply have no heart."

"What?" Ranma asked, looking a bit offended. "What do you mean I have no heart?"

Natasha stood up and stretched her body seductively. "As you are right now, you don't care about anything but what's in front of you. The X-men fight for acceptance and the Avengers fight to save the world. You only fight for yourself."

Ranma made to open his mouth to retort, but stopped short. Did he only fight for himself? The answer came to him surprisingly easy. Yes he did, he wanted to be the best martial artist, not for any altruistic reason, but for his own personal enlightenment. His goal, if there had to be one, was to run the Tendo Dojo with Akane, not because he wanted to, but because that was simply the path he was set on.

"I see you understand," Natasha turned to look at the forest. "You know it was a really long trek over here, and hunting you through these mountains wasn't easy. Do you think you can give me a piggy back ride back? Bridal carry is fine also."

Ranma was about to reply, but he could see that the little scuffle with him had left her looking a less than stellar. "I guess, just none of that funny stuff, got it?"

Natasha laughed at his comment. "You're a boy. You do nothing for me," she replied brutally.

Ranma, who always felt that he was attractive to girls and maybe some women, looked shocked by her blunt honesty. "Then why did you kiss me?"

"Anything Goes, right?" Natasha replied with a raised eyebrow.

That stopped him short, and he had to grudgingly agree. "Ok fine, but I still got two more hours before I'm done with his next set of training, you'll have to wait until then."

"Fine by me," Natasha replied, and silently activated her camera.

Not knowing he was being recorded, Ranma continued his training.

++++ Opening Ceremony, Open Assembly Hall ++++

Ranma rushed into the building and found the entire hall filled to capacity. On the giant platform, were the assembled elites from both schools. On the front row would be the competitors in the upcoming games.

Closing his eyes, he quickly found Beak's unique ki signature, which was was seated more toward the front row this time around. Jogging over there quickly, he noticed that the funny helmet magnet guy took a glance at him before turning back. Also on the stage was another person that had an elegant hood over their face. The person also moved their head as they spotted him and if he didn't know better, stiffened in response to seeing him.

"Ah sorry, watch it, coming through," Ranma squeezed in passed the legs of his peers and sat next to Beak, who looked relieved when he got there.

"Thank god you're here!" Beak said in a relieved tone of voice. "They wanted me to move from this seat, but there was nowhere else to go.

"Sorry man," Ranma whispered to Beak. "Had more dead weight to carry back than usual."

"It's alright," Beak whispered back as he saw something from the corner of his eye.

_'Where have you been Ranma? Saffron was crying because he couldn't find you on school grounds,'_ Jean projected into the pig tail boy's head. There was, however, no demanding tone to her thought, just curiosity.

_'Oh, I figured we had time to kill and got some training in, met the Black widow there too,'_ Ranma thought back as he recalled what happened.

_'Fury was not supposed to approach you unless we were there,' _Jean thought back angrily. She hated that one eyed manipulative man.

_'It was only the Black Widow, I didn't see or sense anyone else,'_ Ranma thought back to Jean.

_'What did she want?' J_ean thought curiously.

_'To tell me that I am not Avengers material,' _Ranma ruefully snorted in the real world.

Jean remained silent, and after a while finally spoke up. _'You mind if I take a quick look at what happened?'_

_'Sure.'_ Ranma agreed and opened his mind, conjuring up what happened between him and the Black Widow for Jean to observe.

'_What the! She kissed you?!'_ Jean's voice cut through loudly in Ranma head. Seeing him physically wince, she lowered the power. '_She kissed you, how could she?'_

_'Ah,' _Ranma's face turned red at the thought. _'Yeah, you weren't supposed to see that one.'_

Ranma could tell Jean was livid by the heat of the thoughts within his mind. But just as quickly as it ignited, it simmered.

_'She's wrong you know,'_ Jean finally said after a moment of silence.

_'About?' _Ranma inquired.

'_You have the potential to be greater than a lot of the heroes out there,_' Jean stated before adding. _'But it is your choice to do so and not anyone else.'_

_'Thanks Jean,' _Ranma thought warmly to his counselor.

_'You're welcome.'_ Jean thought back in reply before looking down at the struggling Saffron after he had spotted his 'father'. _'Saffron wants to come by you, is that okay?'_

Ranma sighed audibly, but decided why not. '_Sure, tell him to walk here though.'_

No sooner had Jean let the little phoenix king go that he weaved his way expertly around the cameramen and through the rows to his father.

"Da-"

"Shhhh," Ranma hushed the little bird boy up, earning an odd looking from the people next to him. Lowering his voice to a whispered he talked to the little bird being. "Be on your best behavior, no talking."

Saffron nodded and sat obediently on Ranma. It was then he felt himself being watched again, causing him to look up at the stage where he saw the cloaked person staring back at him. Returning the stare, he saw the hooded figure continue until a massive firework show started, drowning out all the noise in the stadium.

What happened next bored Ranma to tears. There was a fire work show, some musical ceremonial crap, the Genoshian national anthem, the American national anthem and several speeches by the Mayor of New York about hope for the future and bridging the gap of misunderstanding and mistrust. Beak was moved to tears by the speeches said by the adults. It was then he saw Jean stood on the podium and eyeing both the Genoshain and Xaviers' students.

"I think this competition is full of crap," Jean spoke up bluntly surprisingly many. "Many of you know who I am, what I fought for, and why. Some on this very stage have fought against me, there is no Genoshaina versus Xavier student. There is no grand divide between us and them."

The students and staff members looked interested now.

"There are only mutants who will be competing against each other in a friendly competition. There are too few of us to start this 'Us' versus 'Them' nonsense."

There was some grumbling from the crowd, but they quieted down.

"So when you go out there and play, don't play for Genosha, don't play for the Xavier institute, play for your team mates, play for your friends and play for your family. Attain victory for them. That is what this competition should be about."

The students slowly nodded to the idea, and even the adults had to begrudge Jean that point.

"So in the spirit of things, I have arranged for a little dance to take place after the competition is done. I encourage students from both schools to reach out and go with one another as dates. To set an example, I have agreed to attend the dance with Exodus."

There was audible shock both from the students of Genosha and the staff of the Xavier institute. Even Magneto looked stunned as he turned to his second in command who still looked forward, his thoughts as mysterious as always.

"I hope the students of both schools will get along, thank you."

There was a thunderous applause as the sexy redhead left the stage.

Ranma watched all of this with great interest, especially when Wolverine and Scott appeared to be talking animatedly to his counselor.

"Ranma!" Beak looked nervously to his friend. "I'm doomed!"

"Why?" Ranma asked looking at his friend.

"I need to get a date for the dance!" Beak exclaimed in a panic.

"Bah," Ranma shrugged, he saw the girls all around him looking quite excited by the prospect, even the girls from Genosha were excited by the prospect. The boys however, all looked on in chagrin. The poor bastards.

It was then the Mayor came back to the podium and smiled at the students. "With that said, I now declare the first annual Power Games to begin!"

There was another flashy show of lights from the sky before the students were dismissed for dinner.

Ranma, with Saffron in tow, walked with a worried Beak when he sensed the cloaked figure looking at him again.

"Daddy?"

Looking down at Saffron he saw the little boy tugging on his Kung Fu pants and patting his stomach. Looking back up to the stage he saw the cloak figure was gone along with Jean and the other Professors.

"Alright then, let's get something to eat," Ranma sighed. He couldn't find Kiima either. "What does J- your, mother usually feed you?"

"Ummm, pasta, rice, chicken, pork, beef, I like beef, ummm..." The little boy scrunched his face trying to remember.

"I got it I got it," Ranma stopped the boy from listing anymore. "You eat anything like me."

"I'm like you daddy?" Saffron look up excitedly. "Yay!"

++++ Cafeteria++++

The Cafeteria was open with students from both school attending. Inside were teachers from both factions as well. On Magento's side, Domino, Polaris and Exodus were keeping a careful watch on their kids, with Cannonball, Forge and Magma keeping the students of Xavier's school in line.

Ranma looked at all of this in amusement; the separation of the two schools could not have been any more obvious. For whatever reason, the Genoshain kids were wearing dark purple, down to a tee while the Xavier kids wore casual clothing, except for those that were participating. Then from there, there were the tables where those that were participating sat separately away from those that weren't, in this case this only applied to the Xavier kids.

Evan, spotting him from the basketball team's table, waved his hand to Ranma, who returned the greeting. Myst did not see him as he looked at her, which only left him oddly sitting at the end of a table full of other kids he only had a passing familiarity with.

"Alright then," Ranma began as he pushed the tray of meatloaf to the phoenix king. "Let's eat!"

The smaller child nodded and observed the way his father ate.

"Oh come on," Ranma cried as he had only turned his back to Saffron for barely a moment and the kid got his mouth all dirty and his shirt stained. Taking some extra napkins he started to clean Saffron mouth, face and clothes that Jean bought him. "Eat slower next time."

"But you ate fast and I wanted to do what you did!" Saffron pouted but stayed still so his 'father' could clean him up.

Ranma was halfway finished cleaning up the messy Saffron when he realize he was being stared at, looking up he saw a few girls by his tables was giving him unreadable looks. Looking to his side, he noticed a few girls from Genosha were also looking at him with the same unreadable expression. For some reason, that made him feel extremely nervous. What bothered him the most was the damned cloaked figure staring at him, as if trying to burn a hole into him. There was something familiar about that presence but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Okay then, that should do it. Eat slowly alright?" Ranma reprimanded Saffron while keep the cloak figure in his sight.

"Okay~," Saffron responded happy and began to eat again at a slower rate.

"Yo, mind if I sit here? They're out of space at my school's table."

Ranma looked up and saw a few Genoshians looking at the empty spot around him. The first guy had red hair with a sharp red beard, the second guy had dyed blue hair with blue eyes, the third was a girl with green hair and a body to die for, while the final person was a guy that was completely black. Not black skin, but he radiated a dark energy that covered his body.

"Ain't my table," Ranma shrugged and watched as they sat down around him.

"The name's Inferno, and these are Freeze, Bloom, and Void." Inferno introduced himself and then pointed the guy with the blue hair, the green haired girl, and the black energy boy.'

"Ranma Saotome." Ranma returned his greeting and saw his 'son' looking at him expectantly. "And this is Saffron."

"Nice to meet ya little buddy," Inferno grinned, and held out a small closed fist greeting.

Saffron looked confused by what to do and looked back at his father.

"Ok here's what you do, close your fist and bump his fist with yours lightly," Ranma explained having learn that from Evan a while back.

Saffron did as he was told and smile when Inferno pretend to stagger back from the punch making an exploding noise by opening his fist eliciting a laughter from the kid. The other around him smiled at his antics, and they began to eat their dinner.

After a few minutes of eating, with Ranma slowing down his food consumption both to set an example to Saffron and to be polite in present company. It was Freeze who spoke up first.

"So, this is what it's like at the Xavier institute huh, not bad at all." Freeze commented, looking at Ranma. "A bit cozy but not bad."

"I like it," Ranma agreed with a comment then looked to Freeze. " and the Staff's friendly."

"Friendly? They're the X-men, we heard stories you know." Void lean in whispering. "Our teacher talks about them constantly, about how they are getting in the way of our birthright."

Bloom looked to Void, kicking him under the table and gave him a glare. "No talking politics," she addressed sternly.

"Yes team leader," Void intoned I a way that said this was not the first time he was reprimand. He smartly saluted the green hair girl and earned another kick for his cheek.

Bloom smiled, seeing the pig-tail boy look at her in surprise. She'd always been told she doesn't look like the leader of their team, that Inferno was more the type, but looks could be deceiving.

"So what're ya'll's powers?" Ranma asked, looking at the four around him before pointing at Inferno and Freeze. "You two gotta be fire and ice."

"Right on the dot," Inferno nodded before pointing to Bloom then Void. "Our vaunted captain has the power of nature."

The accompanied hand waving gesture earned him a glare from the green haired girl.

"And Void has the power to nullify all energy attacks," Inferno said, looking at the last boy. "He's our most physical fighter."

Void shrugged his shoulders and look at Ranma. "Hey, it's better than just being used as a shield, you know?"

Ranma could respect that and looked at the crew and decided to comment. "I noticed the way you guys move that you've got some sort of training in martial arts?"

The four looked surprised before looking at Ranma. "You can tell that easily?" Freeze asked first.

"Only if you know what to look for," Ranma explained, and saw the other four look even more interested. "I'm a martial artist too you know."

"Really?" Void asked, looking Ranma over again and noted that he did carry himself like a fighter.

"Yep, the best in the world," Ranma declared, thumbing his chest.

"Daddy is the best!" Saffron agreed making the group look at the kid who went back to eating.

"You- you're a dad? Dude," Inferno said looking at Ranma with something akin to respect.

"No- it's, it's complicated," Ranma finished. That phrase was bandied about the Xavier institute a lot, now he knew why.

"Hey man, it's cool, I understand," Freeze nodded while Bloom shot Ranma a sympathetic look.

Sighing since he knew he couldn't change whatever they were thinking, he decided to let it be. Misunderstanding was the Saotome way of life apparently. Looking at Saffron, he noticed the phoenix kid's mouth was dirty again, and without thinking much of it, took his extra napkin and wiped the kid mouth.

"Awww, ain't that a Kodak moment," Void cooed and was kicked in the shin by Bloom once again. "Ouch! Damn it leader!"

"Err right," Ranma said and looked at the four again. "So what style are you guys training in?"

The three boys looked to the only girl there who appeared to be in thought before nodding. "It's a mix of styles, no one real style, but most of the styles doesn't really have names," Void answered.

"Oh?" Ranma asked, looking at the kids around them. He knew that Anything Goes wasn't the only multi-style combat, and to encounter another one was interesting.

"Yep, our school, which is like the best of the best, get training from some of the best warriors in the world, but only us, the Young Brotherhood, get personal training from the master himself," Void whispered conspiratorially.

Interested now, Ranma leaned in just as conspiratorially and pressed for more information. "How's good your master?"

"Oh our master is the best in the world, make no mistake," Void bragged proudly and saw that other three also puffed out their chest in pride.

"He makes us work until we want to throw up, and then he gets to incorporate our powers into the style," Inferno explained as if it was a big secret.

"Really, hold old is this master? What's his name?" Ranma asked curiously. Maybe he had run across this master before.

"He's only a bit older than us but he's a monster in battle," Void said in a respectful tone.

"Really? Someone that young?" Ranma asked in wonder. Now he was really interested.

"Oh yeah, so no disrespect to your skill, but he is simply the best we ever seen," Void declared before going back to eat.

"Did your master come with you to this competition?" Ranma asked looking at the team leader.

"Yes, he was in here a while ago, I wonder where he went." Bloom said looking around fretfully; her face taking on a pretty blush as she did so.

"Look at her blush; she wants to jump our master's bo-ouch! Bitch!" Freeze glared at his red-faced team leader.

"So what's your mutant power?" Inferno asked as he finished off his last bite of meal while the other had been talking.

Ranma sweated a bit, as he'd heard about Genoshians adhering to supremacy. "I'm err, I'm actually not a mutant."

The four mutants turned to look at him, scrutinizing him in his seat. "You're a Flatscan?" Bloom asked. There was none of the usual mocking tone to when someone said that word.

"Yep," Ranma nodded. "100% Flatscan Ranma, that's me."

"Whoa, must be weird to be a Flatscan going to a school full of muties huh," Inferno commented as he gave Ranma some pitying looks.

"You know, I expected you guys to react differently." Ranma responded as he pushed his plate away, drinking his juice.

"Pfft, why? A mutant is a mutant, a flatscan is a flatscan, there's no shame in it," Freeze spoke up from the pigtail boy other side. "Some are just born stronger then others."

Ranma could not disagree with that assessment, even humanity gave birth to weak babies and mutantkind are born with an inherit advantage. Still, there was that word again. "Just to let ya know, they don't take kindly to that word around here." Ranma warned but the other just nodded as if they expected it to be that way.

"Well, we can hardly blame our fellow mutants, they were taught by Professor Xavier," Void chimed in as he also finished the rest of his dinner. "His methods are too soft for dealing with those that want to harm us."

"I can respect that," Ranma nodded as he was of the mindset if you want to pick a fight, better be prepared to get paid back in kind. Those humans that go hunting for mutants deserved what they got, just like mutants who go out of their way to hurt humans deserved their fate.

"See, you understand," Inferno said grinning. "It's so refreshing to get a Flatscan's point of view. I always felt it was a shame we can't interact with Flatscans on Genosha."

"Oh? Did all the Flatscans moved out?" Ranma asked, curious for once about Genoshian history.

"Most did, some stayed, but they only cause trouble." Bloom explained as she looked at Ranma. "It was during the early days of our independence. We tried to co-exist with them, but they staged a rebellion, trying to over throw the rightful government, so Magneto took care of them."

"I see," Ranma commented as he chewed on that little fact. Suddenly there was a beeping sound and the other kids all look to their wrist.

"Oh damn, that look like it's our signal to go," Inferno sighed as he pat Ranma on the back. "Nice talking to you, guess we'll see ya around."

The others likewise said their farewells to him as they left the table and joined the other Genoshian students as they made their way out.

A few minutes later, the other students began to trickle out, starting with the Elites and competitors. Evan caught Ranma's eyes, and made a motion toward the Genoshians that just left with a tilt of his head. Ranma replied by signing that he'd tell Evan about it later.

Next, Ranma saw the Cuckoos all looking at him as if wanting to say something, but refraining from doing so. He felt he should say something, but found himself unable to come up with anything to say. Finally, he saw Akane walking out with Rogue, she gave Ranma a look and immediately frowned before silently leaving.

"Ugh," Ranma sighed as he had no idea what to do about the girls. He wasn't in the wrong! On any front! Yet... why did he always feel at fault.

"Where are we going now daddy?" Saffron asked as he looked at everyone leave.

"Oh crap..." Ranma looked around and realize that it was getting late and Jean hadn't come back for Saffron yet. It occurred to him that he didn't know where Jean stayed, or Kiima for that matter. For all he knew they could be in some conference with the Genoshians, and could take all night.

"I guess you can hang with me for a bit longer." Ranma sighed and noted that the boy seemed ecstatic. Was he really that eager?

"Yay, we're going to play!" Saffron exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, I guess we are." Ranma said as he made his way out. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, looking at Saffron, he noted that he was about the same age as he was when his dad taught him night combat training. He had enjoyed it back then, so maybe Saffron might like it.

"Saffron, how well can you see at night?" Ranma asked the young boy.

"Perfectly!" Saffron chirped back.

"Oh really? We'll see how perfect that is; you see I was about your age when I was train in night combat."

"What's that?" Saffron asked looking at his father.

"It's where you fight at night, but since you can see pretty well, I am going to have you block my strikes."

Suddenly Saffron's eyes shown fear. "I, I don't want to get hit..."

Ranma hand speed toward quickly at Saffron's face before the boy could blink and flicked his forehead. "Idiot, I'm not gonna to hit you for real! I'm not like my old man. I'm gonna to go fast then stop at the last second. You up for it?"

Dawn lit up on Saffron's face as he nodded enthusiastically. Walking outside, they noticed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier was still above them and many news vans where well outside school range. Walking over to the recess area, he noticed that with the light from the Helicarrier and the fighters it made the ground pretty visible.

"Alright then, ready?"

"Yes sir!"

Ranma couldn't help but grin at the kid's enthusiasm. "Alright then, here we go!"

An hour later, Saffron was giggling as Ranma continued to poke his sides and armpits.

"No more! I give up!" Saffron laughed in between tickles as Ranma had once again easily got past his defense.

Ranma, for his part, did not know when night combat training became a game of tickle Saffron.

"Having fun you two?"

Ranma turned around and saw a slightly tried looking Jean, a Pyslocke who looked like she had been put through the grinder, and Kitty Pryde who was supporting psychic ninja.

"Mommy!" Saffron squealed happily as he ran into Jean arms and hugged her legs softly. While the other two women smiled at their friend.

"Hello there Saffy," Jean smiled at her child. "Did you have fun with daddy hmm?"

"Yeah! I did, daddy got me food and we played and, and..."

Jean affectionate ruffled the boy hair and hugged her to him, as if drawing strength.

"Look who took to fatherhood," Kitty winked at Ranma playfully, and heard him groan making her smile all the more wider.

"Were you a good boy for daddy?" Jean asked as she looked Saffron over for any signs of bruises. Ranma played rough, and she knew this.

"Uh huh," Saffron nodded, and suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Daddy said he was teaching me to fight at night!"

Jean looked over to Ranma and heard Pyslocke snicker a bit. "Yes dear, your daddy is silly like that."

"Daddy's not silly," Saffron gravely corrected his mother. "Daddy's a Flatscan."

"WHAT?!" Jean shouted scaring the little boy as her eyes widen and looked at Ranma for answer. Even Kitty and Pyslocke look shocked.

"Oh shit..." Ranma smack a palm to his head and remember the blunt conversation he had during dinner. Seeing Jean and the girls expectantly look he explained what happened making all the ladies furious.

"I told Charles this was a bad idea," Jean huffed angrily at the corruption of her son's mind. Kneeling before Saffron, she made eye contact with him. "Saffron, dear."

"Yes mommy?" Saffron asked still a bit afraid. His instincts told him that he was in trouble somehow.

"Never use the word Flatscan, okay?" Jean explained in a serious tone of voice. "That is a bad word."

"But daddy uses it," Saffron countered and look to his father who had been edging away from the area.

"Oh don't worry," Jean said looking at Ranma who froze in one spot. "Daddy and Mommy will have a little 'talk' about that too, so from now on, you never say that word okay?"

"... Okay!" Saffron agreed. If both his mother and father was going to talk about it and agreed it was a bad word, then who was he to argue?

Suddenly Kiima showed up and looked at her mistress. After a few seconds, she nodded and leaned to talk with Saffron. A moment later, the two flew away, leaving the three ladies with Ranma.

"Well," Ranma lightly joked as he looked for an escape route. "This is awkward..."

"You can stop looking for spot to run," Jean sighed tiredly. "We are not your fiancée's, and even if we were we don't hit, slug, mallet and smash with weapons."

Ranma rubbed the back of his head bashfully and nodded. "Right, of course, sorry, old habits ya know."

"I know," Jean nodded and turned to her two companions. "Kitty, get Psylocke to the medical ward, I'll be in to look after her shortly."

Kitty nodded and easily supported the Japanese woman to the nearby medical wing.

"What happened to her?" Ranma asked, looking after Pyslocke.

"Magneto," Jean explained with clear distaste in her tone as looked at Ranma trying to think of the best way for Ranma to stop thinking of himself as a Flatscan.

"Whoa, he's that good?" Ranma asked, seeing that some of the bruises on the pretty woman were actually made from punches and kicks.

"Well, not him but his...ally," Jean frowned pensively as she remember what happened to Psylocke.

"She meant me Saotome," A voice rang out as the cloaked figure from before stepped out of the shadows, causing Jean to look surprised as she hadn't even sensed him.

Ranma looked at the approaching figure and narrowed his eyes. "You know me."

"We know each other," the male voice said again as he stepped into the clearing in full view.

Jean had taken this moment to get closer to Ranma in case the two of them needed to fight this monster of a mutant.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked as the voice of the man tickled at his memory.

Suddenly the man unveiled his hood and showed off his handsome visage and imperious look. His eyes ignored the red headed woman and bored directly into Ranma's own. His once free head now had a war like helmet that matched his scaled dragon breast plate. Underneath the armor were flowing white clothes. This man was familiar to Ranma, very familiar. After all, the last time the two met, it was over a stupid kettle.

"Herb?" Ranma said looking at the man. "You're a mutant?"

The man stared imperiously down at Ranma. "That's Prince Herb, and the Musk are allies to Genosha."

"Ranma you know him?" Jean asked, looking between the two. She was surprised that the world was small enough to bring someone that Ranma knew around.

"Yeah," Ranma nodded at the red headed woman before returning the Prince of the Musk's look. "I do."

"Quite well I should say," Herb confirmed smiling darkly. "After all, we did try to kill one another."

TBC...

AN: And we are now Half way done with the Supremacy Arc! What's going on?! What's going to happen? Well, I will say that my decision to make Herb also a mutant was controversial but I couldn't help it! It's too perfect to pass up! He has sharpy pointy elfish ears and he 'inherited' his genes from a magical dragon. Not his martial arts obviously but the reason why he can fire all sort of ki blast was because he inherit that ability. So I figure, why not make him a mutant, and the Musk animal type mutants too. It's all set there for me to blend in like so ^_^

But but what about the magical curses? Of course Herb still turn girl. Ryoga still turn into a pig and Kiima still turn into Akane.

Now to address the concern:

Q- Oy matey! Arggh, where be yee 1/2 of Ranma harr!

A. Well, I had two choice to go with that, one have it happen for the sake of having it happen or two, have it happen in a scene with major impact. I choose the latter. :D

Thanks to the guys at the Temple PC, BC, and CP lol! All them's C's Anyway. Thanks guys for the insightful thought and of course UN for bouncing around crack scenes with and Icura for just tolerating reading rough horrible drafts.

Thanks for all of those who left a reviews for this fic! Especially those big long insightful ones. It just makes my day!

As always C+C welcome Reviews Appreciated.


	8. Supremacy:Part Three

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

The follow fic was brought to you by Death and Mingyu:D Thanks guys!

Homo Superior

Supremacy: Part Three

_**"There is a war coming Saotome, you best prepare for it."**_

_**"Ain't my war Herb."**_

**** Xavier Institute ****

He saw the female before him again yet could not move toward her to claim her. Something was holding him back. '_It_' was holding him back. Unlike the other times when he could move freely after it was gone, it felt as if he was moving in muddy water for these past few times he had been awakened. Looking at the golden one before him, he let out a low growl to let her know that she would be claimed as his mate. The golden one seemed to turn red for a second before backing away from him.

_'Ranma, now! Slowly assert your control over it.'_

He looked around and tried to find where the voices originated from, yet he could not. '_It_' was interfering again, the presence was trying to exert its dominance. No he was the dominant one here, not '_It'_!

_'Come on Ranma, almost there, focus. You're almost there, the cat is almost suppressed. No! Don't turn away from Sybil, keep your eyes on her.'_

He let out a hiss of frustration as he could feel 'it' pushing him back into the cage again. Immediately he attacked the other presence, sinking his claws into it.

_'Don't panic Ranma, it's just an attack. You have suffered attacks before, calm your mind and think of it as just another attack. Push it back into the cage.'_

He was losing ground, 'it' was pushing him back into the hated cage!

"S-shut th-the damn c-cage!" Ranma hoarsely ordered as he fell to his knees and kept himself from completely collapsing with the support of his arms.

For a moment there was only the sound of the pigtailed boy's gasping. Jean Grey and Sybil looked on as the boy calmed himself. The shivering subsided slowly.

"Are you okay Ranma?" Jean asked when she felt enough time had passed and went over to his side.

"Y-yeah," Ranma exhaled slowly as his senses came back to him. A few moments later he rose to his feet, wiped the sweat from his brow and sat down on the little therapy couch that was in Jean's office.

"You made excellent progress," Jean spoke up clinically as she handed Ranma a bottle of water. The boy took it from her and drank it all down. "I think we have reached another step in your treatment."

"Ye-yeah..." Ranma glanced over at his psychiatrist and smiled. "Still hard though, and I almost... lost."

"But you didn't," Jean soothed as she went back to her desk and started to scribble some notes in Ranma portfolio. "And that is a big step."

"If you say so_ Doc_," Ranma smirked as he saw Jean roll her eyes at his nickname for her exclusively whenever they had a session together.

Looking up he saw that Sybil had sat down in the chair across the room, looking at him with concern. "Thanks again for taking the time to help me out with my... problem."

Sybil gave a soft comforting smile and shook her head. "It's no problem at all. I'm glad I can help."

She had been surprised when Jean asked her to volunteer to assist Ranma with what she called his 'Cat therapy.' After signing a confidentiality agreement, she disclosed the full nature of Ranma's problem. It horrified her that a parent could do such a thing to their child. After agreeing, she had expected many things, from a crazy Ranma acting like a cat to pure fear of seeing her. She did not realize that there seemed to be an actual cat personality inside of Ranma himself.

Ranma did not merely have a psychotic break from the stress of the Cat-Fist, another personality subsumed his and was a complete entity with its own wants and desires. Blushing a bit, she remembered that it had made its intention very clear about what it desired.

After a few minutes of respectful silence on Ranma's part to get himself composed, he turned to look at his counselor to asked her a question that been weighing on his mind. "Not that I don't appreciate ya taking the time to continue the treatment but wouldn't ya rather be out there supporting Xavier school? You guys are, like, tied right?"

Jean shook her head and gave him a smile. "This is a far more serious matter then some games. Last week we had to cancel because of my meetings with the sponsors. Now that everything is done, we can continue with the more important matters."

Ranma turned to look at Sybil. "And don't you have a mock team battle coming up with the Young Brotherhood?"

Sybil smiled back at Ranma. "Sitting here is hardly taxing and that particular event is not for another hour. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Beside, I'm the third back up, I doubt they'll need me."

"I guess," Ranma shrugged but felt grateful. His treatment with Jean had been a life saver. According to Jean, they built a shutter-type dam inside his mind that enabled them to control his fe- distaste of cats. Jean had suggested that if Ranma could humanize cats in his mind, he wouldn't be so afraid. And that was where Sybil came in. Sybil had a human face with cat-like features, which seemed easier for Ranma to handle then a real live cat. It had been tough finding the right number of shutters in his mind to open initially for enough fear of cats to seep through that would make him freeze up but not lose all sense of reason.

"You can go Sybil, good luck in the event!" Jean thanked the sweet girl, who shot Ranma a final encouraging look before leaving.

"What's the score now?" Ranma asked after a few more moments of silence. Jean tapped a few keys on the computer in front of her and frowned.

"3-7, Genosha, only 4 minutes left in regulation," Jean winced looking at the status update on the high powered hockey game that was currently being played. Today was the fourth day of the games and so far the two schools had been deadlocked in the 'Power Games' competition. The only sports left were football and soccer. The former was being played later today, the latter tomorrow. If they lost the hockey game, then Genosha would be ahead by one. While there was also a mock team battle later today, it was not going to count. It was billed more as a 'friendly' match set up by Logan and Creed, pitting their X-Men in training against the Young Brotherhood.

"Ouch," Ranma sympathized. He had only bothered showing up for Myst's volleyball match and Evan's basketball game. Both had ended with victories. Even as a spectator, Ranma Saotome, and by extension his friends, doesn't lose. He had to smirk at that thought.

"Anything else on your mind?" Jean asked as she finished making the final notations on Ranma's file.

"Nah," Ranma waved off. "So tomorrow's the final day huh?"

"Yeah," Jean nodded and exhaled in relief. "I have to say I'll be happy when all of these 'sponsors' and news crews leave the Institute so we can continue teaching."

"Yeah... I bet," Ranma smirked thinking about how happy the students had been with no school for an entire week. The festivities outside had consumed all their time and thoughts.

"Speaking of the final day," Jean tone changed, putting Ranma on alert for some reason. "You got a date for the dance yet?"

"Yeah, Akane's my date," Ranma said easily and Jean nodded in approval.

"Well, I'm glad you asked her out," Jean praised before she eyed Ranma's mode of dress critically. For some inexplicable reason, he was wearing the ugliest pastel orange shirt in existence coupled with his black pants. "Do you any formal wear? I have to admit, other than the issued gym clothes I've never seen much variation in your wardrobe."

"Errr," Ranma sweated a bit. "Hah, errr, sorta?"

"Well, you do have a little stipend from your scholarship," Jean pointed out. "Maybe you can go get something to wear that matches what Akane will be wearing."

"Hmm," Ranma pondered in deep thought. "I guess I could..."

"Trust me," Jean spoke with the wisdom of women throughout the ages. "She'll be thrilled if you wear something that compliments her dress."

"I guess I'll ask her," Ranma nodded before he looked over at his counselor. "You don't think you can use your mind magic to find where she's at for me, could ya? I mean, it is pretty crowded outside."

Jean raised an eyebrow at Ranma before closing her eyes to do as he bumblingly requested. A few moments later she opened her eyes back up. "She's with Rogue and Noriko by the gym helping to put up the decorations."

"Thanks Jean!" Ranma waved as he ran out the door to look for his fiancee.

++++Gym++++

The gym had been converted to an impromptu dance hall the moment the dance itself had been announced. For those students who did not sign up for any competition, they decided to help with the dance instead. Already the ceiling had been painted black while shiny stars were being put on it to give the dance room a nice ambiance. On the floor were many students working to get all the lighting fixtures set up, while others were cutting out elegantly designed letters, no doubt for a banner of some sort.

Something like this might have taken longer had the students been normal. However many powers were on display that helped speed up the process. The strength types helped carry the heavy equipment while the diverse flying students all painted the ceiling. It was almost surreal to Ranma as he walked in and observed everything.

He took in the students and made out Akane and Rogue decorating a banner by hand. "Hey Akane!" Ranma greeted as he walked up to his fiancee.

Akane, hearing the sound of Ranma voice, looked up as if startled. "Ranma." she greeted neutrally.

Ranma frowned at her tone. It had been over a week now since their park incident. He had assume she would have gotten over it by now. Seeing her friend looking at him he felt a bit uncomfortable. "Hey, err, mind if we talk... alone?"

"I'm gonna be over there Kane," Rogue waved to her friend and took a girl with dragonfly wings with her some distance away.

"Ranma," Akane began and looked at the pigtailed boy. "Wh- um, what's going on?"

Ranma didn't know why but Akane seem to be a bit uncomfortable around him, there appeared to still be traces of anger and sadness when he looked into her eyes. "Well... umm... about the dance."

Akane looked started and stared at the pigtailed boy as if something had just occurred to her. "A-are you asking me to the dance?"

"Ye- yeah?" Ranma asked hesitantly before steeling himself. "I mean yeah."

However it was now Akane who appeared to look uncomfortable. "R-ranma...I didn't think you'd want to go... I... accepted someone else's invitation already."

Ranma felt as if he was punched in the gut. "What?"

Akane however looked sadly at Ranma. "I waited for three days before accepting Icarus' invitation... You... you never said you wanted too... not even a note."

"Wh- I mean... You... you're my fiancee... isn't it a given we were gonna go together?" Ranma asked, still feeling as if the wind was knocked out of him. Which was strange, because he hadn't fought anyone at all.

"Given?" Akane asked this time, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you don't ask me how would I know what you want. Oh wait, that's right, you just assume things are going to happen your way."

"What?" Ranma asked, looking at his fiancee and getting angry. "Are you still mad about the park thing?"

Akane looked like she had been slapped before schooling her face. "The 'park thing'? That's what you call our serious discussion, the 'park thing'?"

"Well, what else would it be?" Ranma felt even more agitated. "You asked me all those weird questions and acted like I did something wrong when you were the one that accepted someone else's invitation to the dance."

"Ranma," Akane felt a headache coming on before looking at her fiancee. "Did you want to go to the dance with me, or did you assume that because we are engaged we were going to go together?"

Taken off guard, Ranma nervously scratched the back of his head. "I dunno? Both?"

"Ranma, if we weren't engage-" Akane began as she looked into Ranma eyes. "Would you have bothered to asked me out to the dance?"

"What the hell Akane?" Ranma said before lowering his voice and staring at his tomboy fiancee. "What do you _want_ from me?"

"A better question to ask, Ranma, is what do you want from _me_," Akane shot back, slightly raising her voice. "First you tell me you're only marrying me out of obligation, then you made it pretty clear that you never wanted our engagement in the first place. So why should I think you'd want to go to the dance with me?"

"What does that has to do with anything?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"It has to do with everything Ranma!" Akane quickly lowered her voice after the last shout. "Ranma you don't even know what you want, so how am I supposed to know?"

"How can I know what I want when everything have always been decided for me?" Ranma shot back, folding his arms as he did so. "I'm just trying to make the best out of a bad situation."

The moment he uttered those words he knew that he had gone too far.

"Wait, Akane, I didn't mean for-"

"Shut up," Akane spoke up, her eyes starting to tear up as she glared at him. "If that is how you really feel then our engagement is over."

Despite how bad he felt, hearing the last line lit a spark in him. "Our engagement is over? OUR engagement is over? You always do this whenever you get angry! Always threatening to end the engagement because things don't go your way!"

Akane glared at Ranma. "Well I'm sorry if you were stuck with someone you had to 'grow' to like! What a chore!"

"You're damn right it was a chore!" Ranma fired back mercilessly. "You think I liked getting hit and accused of crap I didn't do? You think I even wanted an engagement at all?!"

"Well, you don't have to worry about me anymore Ranma," Akane hissed, too angry for tears now. "I am fine on my own now, I don't need the great Ranma Saotome anymore."

The two knew that the words were cutting too deeply, too close to home, but neither seemed to be able to stop.

"Well, that's fine with me," Ranma shot back. "Cause I never needed you in the first place!"

Akane looked at Ranma and slowly her glare faded, her feature softening. "Goodbye Ranma." she whispered softly and walked off to her concerned looking friends, leaving Ranma to stand there looking after her.

The students who had discreetly tried to pretend not to have heard worked at a more concentrated pace.

"Goddamnit." Ranma growled as he stalked out of the gym, his mind running a mile a minute.

+++ School Grounds+++

How long he wandered for Ranma didn't know, in the distance he could hear the roar of the cheering crowds and a man announcing something he could barely make out over the P.A. He must have been closer to the forest in the estates, giving him some much needed time alone.

"FUCK!" Ranma shouted as he punched his arm through a thick tree trunk. His anger and frustration was palatable. He wished Ryoga would show up, because he really could use a fight right about now.

"Ranma?"

Ranma turned around to see a wide-eyed Celeste, dressed in the red and yellow outfit, looking at him and the arm that had effortlessly punched through the tree trunk. He didn't know why she was there, but he didn't need her attitude right now. To his ever growing ire, the irritating blonde apparently was moving closer to him.

"Is everything okay?" the leader of the Cuckoos asked in a concerned voice, looking at where Ranma had hit the tree. "Is your arm going to be alright?"

Taken aback by the softness of her tone, Ranma anger deflated, his mood turning sullen. "It'll be fine." He raised his arms up to show that it was indeed uninjured.

"I don't need to be a telepath to know that something bad happened,"

Celeste slowly approached the now sullen pigtailed boy.

"Unless one of your powers is turning back time," Ranma turned to look at the blonde girl before letting his back fall back against the tree. "I believe I'm shit outta luck."

"Well," Celeste said as she finally closed the distance between her and the boy. "We can erase memories so that's sorta going back in time."

Ranma looked up sharply and felt alarmed at THAT possibility. "Y-You can?"

"Well, not by myself, but we can," Celeste corrected. Gently she reached out her hand to feel if his arm was broken. She did take some first-aid courses, as was required.

Ranma didn't pull back and let the girl do what she wanted. After all, he did grab her arm rudely that one time so it was fair payback. Looking at the way she was dressed, he saw she had a backpack of some sort slung over her shoulders.

"Going on a training trip?" He joked.

Satisfied that nothing was broken, Celeste pulled her hand back and looked at the pigtailed boy. She knew there had to be a secret to his powers, but Ms. Grey had impressed upon Ms. Frost that she would not brook any unauthorized scan of Ranma's mind from fellow students. Seeing as how Ms. Frost literally owed Ms. Grey for not making a bigger issue with her and Mr. Summers, Ms. Frost had strictly prohibited them from doing anything mentally to the pigtailed boy.

"Not at all, this is our regular clothes. We're going shopping after the mock battle."

"Oh." Ranma said looking at the duffel bag behind her.

"We're going with Hellion to the dance," Celeste said a bit excitedly. "We figured we need better dresses."

Ranma ire grew at the mention of the dance, but decided not to take it out on the blonde who was being unusually nice. "Well I'm sure you girls would look good in anything."

Celeste didn't know why, but she blushed a bit at that. It was true, she knew she was good looking. Everyone knew it, it was just a fact. Yet Ranma had never really given compliments or praised any of the girls. In fact, he never tried to flirt, never commented on how predicative they dressed, and never looked at them with perverted eyes. Frankly, they thought he was gay until they found out about his engagement with Akane Tendo.

If there was ever a worse fiancee, she didn't know... okay maybe there was Mr. Summers. However, Akane was close. Celeste briefly recalled a fight between Ranma and the rock mutant known as Ryoga. The other mutant had jumped Ranma out of the blue, accusing him of flirting with them while cheating on Akane. The girls had wanted to shut off the rock mutant, but to their surprise Ranma handled Ryoga with ease, culminating in him humiliating the rock boy, much to their amusement. That was when the super bitch fiancee showed up, and without even getting the story straight, defended Ryoga and accused Ranma, of all people, of bullying someone weaker. When Ranma defended himself, and baited the rock boy by taunting him, he was slugged by his finacee.

That didn't sit right with the Cuckoos at all. Unfortunately, Ms. Frost gave strict orders not to mess with other students permanently. Ranma did not seem to mind it, so they let the matter drop, but they never were fond of the Japanese girl.

Shaking her head at the memory, Celeste was able to recover from her blush. "Of course we do." she replied haughtily.

"And you're back," Ranma grinned as he looked at the girl. "Was wondering where the real you went."

"This is the real me," Celeste said flatly, glaring at Ranma, which only seem to make the boy grin wider.

"Well, enjoy your dance," Ranma waved before walking away with a much clearer head and less aggression. He hated to admit it, but he had to thank the Cuckoo's leader for taking his mind off of Akane.

"Aren't you going?" Celeste asked Ranma as he left. Her only reply was a shake of Ranma head as he walked in the direction of their dormitory.

+++Main Building+++

After leaving Celeste behind, Ranma found himself at the main building wondering if he should tell Jean about what had happened with him and Akane. He didn't want to prove his father right by being a whiner, bad enough as it was that he changed into a girl.

"Ranma?" Evan, who had been on his way to asked for special permission to leave the campus grounds, spotted his friend.

"Oh hey, Spyke," Ranma shook out of his revere and greeted his friend.

"You trying to get special permission to leave the school too?" Spyke asked as he opened the door and sensed Ranma following.

"You need permission to leave the school?" Ranma's expression showing his ignorance in such a matter.

"Y-you didn't get one?" Evan looked at his friend. "You could have gotten into so much trouble! How did you get past the gate alarm and the forest security?

"... what security?" Ranma inquired and saw his friend do a face fault, something the boy learned from him. He couldn't help but be proud of that.

"The one in the forest! The laser beams, the electrical shocks. You know, traps and wire!" Evan rattled off and saw his friend's face finally took on an understanding expression.

"Oh those!" Ranma chuckled as he remembered. "Those are pretty good training tools, good for the reflexes."

Evan opened his mouth and was about to say something when he stopped. "You know what, never mind."

"So what do you need special permission for?" Ranma asked curiously as he followed Spyke to Jean's office.

"Well, I found out that the suit I had no longer fit me, Auntie Ro told me I should buy an outfit before it's too late," Evan declared worriedly. "I hope it's not too late, Ariana finally said yes!"

"Ariana?" Ranma asked, not remembering anyone with that name.

"Oh, she's from Genosha. And she's hot!" Evan gloated to his friend.

"Oh, you doing that cultural thingy," Ranma remembered Jean speech about unity and all that other stuff.

"Well yeah," Evan nodded. "They might be mutant supremacists, but they sure produce some good looking talent. Have you check out Instructor Polaris?"

"I... don't know who's who," Ranma sweated, with all these code names and double names around it was hard for him to keep track of them.

"Ah, you'll get use to it. I mean Polaris has legs that would give Ms. Psylo- oh."

Ranma looked up to see why his friend stopped when, lo and behold, the ninja assassin was right there talking with Jean in front of her office.

"Ms. Grey, Ms. Braddock," Evan greeted as politely as possible.

"Evan, Ranma," Pyslocke greeted and saw the expression on Evan's face looking to her friend. "I'll see you later Jean."

Jean waved to her friend and turned to the boys. "And what can I help you two with?"

"Just him," Ranma quickly pointed to Evan. "He needs permission to go out and buy a suit."

"At least someone asks for permission," Jean mumbled softly under her breath as she walked into her office and grabbed some tracker bands. Or would have if she had any left. "Oh no, I gave the last of the trackers to the Genosha kids."

"Awww man!" Evan panicked. "How am I going to get a suit in time now?"

Ranma looked at his friend and decided to be a 'bro'. "I could always help you get past the obstacles, no biggie..."

"Absolutely not!" Jean interjected, cutting off a hopeful looking Evan. "You said you needed to buy a suit?"

"Yes Ms. Grey," Evan dejectedly replied as he thought about the perfection that was his date.

"Well it just so happens that other kids from Genosha, and the Cuckoos are going shopping too. They also needed to get some last minute formal wear."

"Can tag along?!" Evan asked hopefully.

"Yes, Kitty say she'd supervise with how many trackers we got out and about," Jean grinned and saw Evan jumping for joy. "It would, of course, be after the mock battle."

"Thank you Ms. Grey!" Evan hugged the redhead who was like an aunt to him. A hot aunt.

Patting the boy on his head she looked over to Ranma. "You're still wearing that ugly shirt, you just need shopping done in general." She declared.

"Hey! It works!" Ranma defended his mode of dress.

"Yeah, back in the eighties maybe," Evan mumble having decided to give his friend a little flack for the ugly orange color. The red bow tie made it look worse.

"Even in the eighties it was ugly," Jean stated and saw Ranma almost folding in on himself from the amount of ribbing he was receiving. "I'll give Kitty some money so she can get you some... decent clothes. And you can pick out your suit there too!"

At the mention of the clothing for the dance Ranma stiffen up and looked at Jean. "About the dance..."

"What about it?" Jean asked looking at the boy.

"I'm not going."

"What?" Evan shouted as he look to his friend. "You're not!? Why not? Who's gonna be my wingman?!"

"Wingman?" Ranma asked, not familiar with the term.

"You know, my partner to hunt for girls," Evan grinned before realizing he was in the presence of Ms. Grey.

"You have a date." Ranma declared flatly.

"She could dump me during the date, and then were would I be? Always have a backup my friend, always have a backup," Evan nodded sagely.

"Oh, I got a few," Ranma muttered ruefully, thinking of Ukyou and Shampoo. The former had been angry when he left, the latter had been oddly silent since his announcement.

"Ranma, mind if we talk real fast?" Jean asked tapping her head.

Ranma sighed, but since he was here and didn't specifically come to her to whine he could get away with it. "Okay."

Evan curious as to what was going on asked. "What are yo-"

'What's this about not going to the dance?' Jean mental imagine said upon entering a dojo that had a homey feel to it. In the center was Ranma looking at her.

'Me and Akane got into an argument... again,' Ranma replied as he grabbed his mental head in frustration. 'It's easier if I show you.'

Jean only nodded, not offering any comfort, but neither was she judging. And just like that the landscape around them melted away as Ranma showed her what happened in the gym. When all was said and done they were back in the dojo with Ranma doing a kata against a dummy.

'See what I mean? It's all messed up,' Ranma growled as he shattered the dummy post with a vicious kick.

'That was a spectacular mess of things,' Jean agreed before walking up to him. 'However it is not your fault.'

'So it's Akane fault?' Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow. Akane was never at fault.

'No, it's not hers either,' Jean replied softly.

'Then it's nobody fault?' Ranma asked with another raised eyebrow.

'Yes, it's nobody fault,' Jean confirmed making Ranma look confused. 'Ranma, do you mind if I tell you something as a friend, and your therapist?'

'You're in my head already, might as well,' Ranma replied with a rueful chuckle.

'Even though you might love Akane, on some level you still resent her and what she represented,' Jean started and saw Ranma bristle. ' Don't deny, I saw it.'

Ranma remained silent and waited for the redhead to finish.

'I know what you would do for her, I know what you have done for her, I know what you have given up for her,' Jean stated as she continued to maintain eye contact with Ranma. ' However, the fact of the matter is, that's not love, not really.'

'Then what do you call it them?' Ranma asked as he looked at the wooden walls of the dojo.

'A settlement,' Jean replied. 'You settled. You became who you are through the trials you faced, yes, but those were your trials. Akane simply grew on you.'

'Don't people do that all the time?' Ranma asked as he turned back to Jean.

'Yes, but in your case, that does not appear to be enough for Akane, even if it is for you,' Jean stated sadly. 'Sometimes two people can love each other with all their hearts but still grow apart, making them incompatible.'

Ranma have heard the rumors, the gossip. The whole love triangle between Jean, Scott and Ms. Frost. He never put much stock into the rumors but looking at Jean now he realized that she could read this thought of his too. Ashamed he looked down at his feet.

'Don't be, I made my peace with it,' Jean replied lightly, though there was still pain in her eyes. 'However, my situation with Scott is no different then yours with Akane. I still love Scott, I don't think I can ever stop, but I can't find happiness with him anymore either.'

'So you are saying I will never be happy with Akane?' Ranma asked respectfully. His teacher had just bared a private part of her soul to him. He would treat it with reverence.

'I think Akane will never be happy with you, no matter what you do,' Jean replied as she looked back to Ranma. 'There will always be the niggling doubt in her mind of you being able to go anywhere else, but you chose her because of honor.'

Ranma remained silent. It was true, he did choose her because of honor, but he did like her.

'Akane will always be insecure about that, that is a facet of her personality she cannot change,' Jean stated and looked to Ranma. 'And because of your other engagements, the doubt will always consume her, despite any love she might feel for you.'

'What should I do?' Ranma asked softly.

'Ranma,' Jean prompted while looking directly at the boy. 'How would you feel if you had no engagements at all? That, as of right now, you were a completely free man, in every sense of the word.'

Ranma could not suppress it. The moment Jean put that thought into his head, the moment he imagined what it would be like, the feeling, the elation, the freedom of such a prospect was overwhelming. It bubbled to the surface, his fondest desire. For a second, with such freedom, he did not think of Akane, did not think of any of the fiancees. He felt happy. However, as quickly as it came he suppressed it, a look of horror on his face.

'You have your answer,' Jean had also felt that euphoria of happiness at Ranma's thought, it was almost overwhelming to her. Ranma had chained down so many of his emotions, this one was just unadulterated, pure, overwhelming joy.

'I guess I should sit this dance out then,' Ranma sulked a bit. 'What with her being there and all with that Icky guy.'

'Icarus,' Jean corrected and looked at Ranma with sympathy. 'He's a very good person. However, I still want you to go, prove to yourself that you are stronger here.'

Ranma look down at where Jean hand touched his heart and nodded. This was also like a battle, and Ranma doesn't run away from a battle, unless the action lead to victory.

'Besides, your friends will be there, Evans, Beak,' Jean smiled and gave a knowing look. 'Others that you don't want to admit.'

"- are you guys doing?" Evan asked as the two looked at him. Ranma seemed a bit better and Jean appeared as unflappable as always.

"Evan, Ranma will be going with you," Jean nodded as she notified Kitty that there were two more people joining her group.

**** Westchester Outlet Mall ****

"Damn you Evan, because of you I've seen hell!" Ranma glared at his best friend who was returning the accusation with a toothy smile of his own.

"Aww come on man, look at it this way, how can you not like this?"

Ranma turned to glare at Inferno, who had also accompanied them to get a formal suit. His eyes, however, were glued to the backside of some of the female Xavier's students. Seeing that, Ranma took his foot and kicked the boy's shin.

"Ow, damn it man!" Inferno hissed as he looked at Ranma. "None of these are your ladies. I asked remember?"

Ranma glared.

"Alright, Alright," Inferno eased up before his eyes glued to other passer-by. "Hmmm, got a nice ass on that fla-err- normie."

Evan had been ready to lay into Inferno again because of his liberal use of the word flatscan, but seeing as how the boy made a solid effort to cut back he'd relent. Besides, Inferno was a pretty cool guy. After all they shared the same hobby, girl watching.

"Oh Ranma~," Kitty sang sweetly, beckoning the pigtailed boy over to her.

The three boys had been on a bench, all of them had shopping bags in front of them along with various boxes. None of it belonged to them.

Ranma turned back to the boy that got him to go on this trip in the first place. "Hate you so much."

"Awww, how terrible. Pretty girls calling you, what a CHORE," Evan exaggeratedly mocked before shooing Ranma off.

Ranma steeled himself, walked into the teen department store and saw Kitty, the Cuckoos, and Bloom all have various shirts hanging in front of them as they posed in front of the mirror.

"No no no, we have to mix and match. I'm sick of monotone colors."

"What if I don't want to mix and match?"

"We ALWAYS mix and match!"

"Enough you two!"

"Do you think teal would go better with my hair or red?"

"Yes, Ms. Pryde?" Ranma replied formally, letting her know his displeasure. To his ire the woman only laughed as she pointed to several more bags of purchases at the front desk. The cashier had been very accommodating after the sheer amount of business they were bringing.

"That one has your suit in it," Kitty felt pleased with her selection. "The others should be your casual clothes. Not trying to be rude, but if you can change into it right now it would be great. Seriously, that orange is ugly as sin!"

"Hey!" Ranma protested, grumbling as he took the bags and went back to the bench with the other boys. Glancing at the clock he noticed that it was a little past three, almost time for the football game.

"Damn, didn't think we'd be this long," Evan glanced at his cell phone for the time before turning to look at the girls. "Still, not a bad trade off."

"You said it brother," Inferno grinned. The really did share the same interests. Too bad they were on opposing sides.

"You like being their pack mule?" Ranma asked, lifting all the assorted bags in his hand.

"Not I," Evan grinned and pointed to Ranma. " Just you, since you are so strong and _manly_."

"Shut up," Ranma growled before taking his seat on the bench. If there was anything more boring then shopping for clothes he had yet to find it.

After another half an hour where the boys continued to flutter over by the girls whenever they asked for opinions, they made their final selections and left a very happy mall shop.

"Damn look at those babes."

"Hell yeah, that brunette's got a smoking body!"

"Three of a kind? Every man's fantasy walking right there."

"That green hair girl is hot, look at the junk in her trunk!"

The women, hearing the whispers from the passer-by, walked even more haughtily, if possible.

"You boys hungry?" Kitty asked as she realized it had been two hours since they started shopping. She wasn't sure if they had lunch or not.

"Yeah!"

"Nope!"

"No."

The yes came from the pigtailed boy of course, who grimaced as the girls giggled at him. Taking offense, he glared at them some more. "I'll have you know that-"

Anything Ranma wanted to say suddenly stopped as he felt an incoming attack. Immediately, he threw his clothes away, slammed into Kitty and bowled over the four girls, who looked at him in surprise.

A second later,a dozen mini-stunning missiles were fired into their group, stunning the boys and chaperone.

"Go! Go! Go! S.H.I.E.L.D. will be here in 5 minutes with the distraction we provided."

A dozen armored men with odd looking rifles decloaked and surrounded the group. They fired first at Evan, then Inferno with electrical stunning bolts while several others fired directly at the Cuckoos.

"Oh hell no!" Kitty yelled angrily as she phased through the electrical current that they fired. Running quickly, she punched the man in the gut, took his gun and fire it back at him.

"What she said, sucker," Ranma grinned as he fought off the group near him, dodging their electrical attack and actually taking out several of the men that surrounded them. "Miss Pryde, take the girls out first!"

"I can't carry them all!" Kitty shouted but she was already moving, opting to grab the youngest girls first, which were two of the Cuckoos, and phased through the walls.

"Just me and you now, fuckers," Ranma taunted, but felt something was off when the armored men moved away. Before he realized what was happening, several electrical grenade were tossed his way and exploded instantly, knocking out an awakening Bloom and Inferno.

Even Ranma was not immune, as he took most of the blast full on, and it hurt enough for him to fall to his knees.

"Damn, must be a strength type," Several of the men rushed forward, pulled out little taser sticks and stabbed the pigtailed boy with them.

"Argggh!" Ranma shouted in pain as more and more cattle prods were stuck into him, sending jarring electrical currents though his body. As good as he was, he was overwhelmed as a final figure in black armor approached him and smashed the butt of their rifle across his face.

***** Somewhere****

Ranma woke up abruptly as he first a stinging sensation in his arm. Eyes widening, he tried to move but found that he could not.

"Ah ah, don't move. This will only take a bit longer," a heavily scarred, one-eyed man in a white lab coat grinned as he pulled out another vial of Ranma's blood.

"Who the hell are you?" Ranma shouted and was rewarded when the one eye man stepped aside for one of his henchman. A moment later a cattle prod was stuck into his body, making him almost scream in pain.

"Manners," the one-eyed man chided.

Ranma saw that he was hoisted up with four cylindrical tubes clamped on both his arms and his legs at the ankle. Ironically enough, he noted that his body made an 'X' symbol. Ranma glowered at the man and made to lunge at the him, but found that the clamps holding him in were too strong.

"Hmmm, that's good, very good," the man ignored Ranma and glanced at the vial of the blood. He walked over to a cart, where there were at least fifty other vials of assorted blood.

"You will find that struggling is useless, the collar suppresses your x-gene."

Ranma made to lunge at the man again, but the two guards with him took out their cattle prods and stabbed him in the chest before activating them.

"Mmmmmarghhh!"

"Hah hah! Not so high and mighty now are you, mutie?"

The two guards relented after stabbing the cattle prods into Ranma again, eliciting one last scream. Before they left, the one-eyed man put a finger to his lips and pointed over to the right of Ranma, where he recognized his group. Inferno, Bloom, Celeste and Evan were still passed out. Their arms had metal clamps over them while their necks had his matching metal collars on them.

"Guys?" Ranma tried to wake up his peers. "Guys!"

Yet the group was still passed out. Alone with his thoughts, Ranma looked at his surroundings. He was in a white cell with a thick glass door in front of him. The place was well lit, almost as big as his room, but had a hospital feel to it. Try as he might he couldn't pull his hands from the metal clamps, making him agitated.

The last thing he remembered was the shock from the electrical bombs. Everything had happened so fast that even with his reflexes he was subdued. That had hurt his pride something quite fierce.

"Nngghh.."

"Ugh... my head..."

"What happens to my powers? I can sense anybody!"

"What the hell hit me?"

Ranma turned to see a panicky Celeste, a fearful Bloom, a concerned Inferno and a shocked Evan looking at themselves.

"Humans," Inferno spat in disgust.

Bloom had calmed down and looked at the door. She closed her eyes as if to concentrate, but a moment later opened them back up. "Inferno, try to use your powers."

"Alright captain," Inferno replied and snapped his fingers. "Errr... that's not supposed to happen."

Snapping a few more times, the Genoshian mutant still could not conjure any flame.

"Me too," Evan said, as he found that his ability to shoot out bones had been negated. He felt panicked at the thought.

Celeste closed her eyes again as if straining but found nothing. Sensing nothing, not even her sisters. For once she was alone in her head and it scared her. It was then she noticed the rest of the group, who were trying the same thing as her but failing. Where were her sisters?

"Phoebe?! Irma?!"

"Celeste!" Ranma shouted, catching the group attention and wondering as to why he was bound differently than themselves.

"Ranma?" Celeste eyes made out the pigtailed boy. "I don't see my sisters!"

"Relax, I saw Ms. Pryde escaping with them before I was knocked out," Ranma informed the sister, who looked less panicked now.

There was a moment of silence as the group took in their predicament.

"So I dunno about you guys, but I am getting the hell out of here first chance I get," Ranma let the group know and started to strain his muscles against the clamps on his arms.

"Ranma! Dude, don't hurt yourself man!" Evan shouted as he saw his friend seem to want to tear his arms out of their sockets.

Closing his eyes, Ranma slowly tried to summon his ki into his hands when the doors opened again. In came two soldiers and one person Ranma would never have expected to see. "Old Ghoul?!"

"My, my, my, former son in law," Cologne, Elder of the Amazon tribe, greeted with a maniacal cackle. "To think you were here, and a mutant to boot!"

"I'm no mu-offf!" Ranma had retorted only to find the old woman's staff embedded in his gut.

"Now now, it's rude to speak before your elders you know," Cologne tsked as she pogoed to the other students who appeared defiant in her presence. She stopped in front of Inferno and Bloom. "And these must be our two esteemed guests from Genosha."

"Magneto will never let you get away with this, flatscan!" Inferno shouted and made to lunge at the old woman, but before he could reach her the two guards pulled out their shock sticks and stabbed the red-haired mutant with it.

"Argggghhh!"

The Amazon Elder scoffed with a raised eyebrow.

"Enough!" Bloom shouted as the two guards still had not removed the cattle prod from her teammate who was body was violent thrashing about on the floor.

The old woman raised her hand and the two guards eased back to her side. She saw the green-haired girl and the black boy checking on their fallen companion.

"Old Ghoul..." Ranma trailed off softly. He was in shock and horrified by what happened. It happening to him was one thing, seeing it happen to someone else was pretty sickening.

"The X-Men will find us," Evan stated defiantly, glaring openly at the woman but not daring to make a move unless he wanted to end up like Inferno.

"I highly doubt that," Cologne replied with a disgusting smile.

"Lord Magneto will or Instructor Creed will," Bloom spoke up but made no move to attack the woman. "Then you'll be sorry."

"I highly doubt that as well," Cologne rebutted with the same smile. "They are far FAR too busy at the moment. A few missing students are the least of their worries at the moment."

Ranma looked at Cologne and understood that she wanted to tell them something extremely shocking. "Spit it out already, ya damn crone!"

"Because you are my former son-in-law, I will tell you," the old Amazon magnanimously replied. Looking at the two children from Genosha she smiled. "You see, as of yesterday, after your football game, which ended your entire 'competition' with a tie, a massive army of Sentinels made a direct course for Genosha."

Bloom eyes widened in shock and fear. "N-No!"

"Yes," Cologne smiled nastily before she pogoed toward Ranma. "Even as we speak, Earth's mightiest heroes, the X-Men, Magneto, the 'Brotherhood' and S.H.I.E.L.D.S in conjunction with several world armies are combating the Sentinels on Genosha."

Bloom, Even and Celeste paled at the news, and for once looked extremely fearful of the old woman before them.

"So, as you can see, no one is going to come looking for you. Not with all those lives on the line. Why, I heard the death toll had already exceeded two million last as of last night. Genosha causalities that is."

"Noo..." Bloom whispered hoarsely.

"What are you playing at, Old Ghoul?" Ranma narrowed his eyes at the woman. He knew she was dangerous but never realized how much.

Laughing the woman pogoed back to Ranma. "Ah, former Son-in-Law, always so perceptive."

Ranma merely glared at his sometimes ally, sometimes enemy of an old woman.

"Where do you think you are being held, former son-in-law?" Cologne raised an eyebrow and looked at the group. "This was a secret Sentinel base. Normally, a hundred Sentinels wouldn't be worth much, but with all forces now at Genosha... I am sure few hundred Sentinels would do quite a bit of damage to the Xavier Institute."

There was another moment of silence before Evan tried to attack the old woman, only to be beaten down by the guards with their cattle prods.

"Yo-... I never thought you could ever be so evil," Ranma whispered, his very body felt numb because of what this woman said.

"Evil, former Son-in-Law?" Cologne scoffed. "Hardly. We did not start this war, they did. We are simply striking first."

"That is a lie! We want to co-exist with normal humans," Celeste shot back.

"While that might be true for Xavier kids, Genosha is another matter," Cologne countered as she stepped in close to the blonde girl, making her scoot back into the corner. "Everyone knows that as soon as Magneto finishes training his military, he intends to start annexing parts of the world and with the sixteen-million mutants under his command. Well, not many would have a chance."

Bloom turned her head aside, shocking Ranma who remembered Herb's words regarding humans and mutants. "War is inevitable..."

"Correct, former Son-in-law," Cologne nodded approvingly. "The Coalition of Humanity will ensure humanity's survival, not mutant-kind."

"Coalition of what? Assholes?" Ranma insulted and received a sharp rap to his head from the old woman's stick.

The old woman cackled madly before grinning. "Oh yes, I am sure that groups like A.I.M., HYDRA, The Hand, the U-men, the Purifiers, among others are assholes. But they have humanity's best interests at heart."

Bloom and Celeste eyes widened at the list of names.

"And the Amazons?" Ranma scoffed and received another hard hit from the old bat.

"We are the Elites, capable of matching any mutants," Cologne declared proudly. "The Musk have joined Genosha's side, it seemed fitting that we join humanity's."

The entire room was silent after the old woman declaration. The only sound heard was Evan heavy breathing.

"It has been good chatting with you, former son-in-law," Cologne nodded fondly. "You know, if you weren't a mutant they would have persuaded you to join the cause by any means necessary. Too bad you are one.

Ranma looked sharply at the old woman. "What ar-"

"Care for a drink, former son-in-law?" Cologne cut in looked directly into Ranma's eyes.

"... Sure, old bat," Ranma agreed, unsure of what was going on. There was something off about the old woman. The way she was acting, upon reflection, was extremely off.

The old woman took a glass cup, filled it with water, and, to everyone's surprise, placed it on top of Ranma's head before cackling evilly.

"Well, I must say, I do hope you don't make too much of a mess," Cologne cackled and made to leave, but suddenly stopped. "Oh, and don't worry, I believe your old sparring partner, Hibiki, is in one of these cells. You'd be amazed at what the Bakusai Tenketsu can do to his rock skin. Quite... entertaining."

After a few moments , the old woman left with the two guards chuckling at the boy predicament. Truly, there was no way for the boy to drink the water without getting it all over himself.

Ranma remained still, balancing the glass of water on his head, straining to hear the retreating footsteps.

"Ranma, I'll try and help you drink the water," Celeste got up to her feet and got in front of Ranma, only to see his eyes widen as if in shock. Behind her, Inferno was being cared for by Bloom while Evan gingerly got back to a sitting position.

"You never cease to amaze, old bat..." Ranma whispered respectfully, startling the blonde in front of him.

"Ranma?" Celeste asked puzzled but reached for the cup.

"Don't," Ranma commanded, making Celeste freeze. "Look out the doors and see if there's anyone patrolling.

Unsure of why Ranma would request such a thing, she went to the glass door and looked around. "All clear."

Ranma looked at Evan, who seemed wounded, while Celeste was looking straight at him. "Alright then, it's time to get out of here."

"And how are we going to do that?" Evan asked listlessly.

"I'm breaking us out, of course," Ranma answered and grinned. "And we're freeing all the captured mutants in here."

"Oh, great plan, high and mighty leader," Celeste rolled her eyes. Ranma was known for his bravado if nothing else. "How do you suppose you'll get out of that thing you're in?"

Ranma grinned and looked at his friends. "Like this, of course."

What happened next stunned Celeste, startled Evan and made Bloom look hopeful. With a movement of Ranma's head the cup lost it's balance spilled it watery content on the pigtailed boy who proceeded to melt into a smaller, slimmer, bustier redhead. The cuffs suddenly became two sizes too big and the girl easily slipped out of the binds.

"Instructor Mystique?" Bloom asked in awe. To her surprise, however, the redhead looked at her oddly.

"Who's?" the boy turned girl asked the Genosha girl but corrected her. "I'm Ranma, remember?"

"A-are you for real?" Celeste asked as she got in close to Ranma and groped the smaller girl, making her jump even as she broke the collar on her neck in half.

"Hey! Hands Celeste!" Girl-type Ranma rebuked and saw the blonde marveling at her.

"Ranma?" Evan asked as he saw the lovely redhead before him "Like.. RANMA?!"

"Yeah, Ranma!" Girl-type Ranma responded with a roll of her eyes, even as she easily snapped off Celeste's arm bindings and then the x-gene suppressing collar.

Immediately, Celeste went into the girl, claiming to be Ranma's, mind and found that she really did believe she was Ranma, only to feel the girl's mind react violently to the intrusion.

"What did I say about READING MY MIND!" Ranma hissed at the girl, making the blonde stop, before she went over to Evan and broke his collar and cuffs.

"Ranma?!" Evan asked again in shock at the brute strength the girl exhibited in breaking open their cuffs.

"For the last time, YES Evan!" Ranma answered exasperatedly as she finished freeing Inferno and Bloom.

Celeste, who began to read the minds of the group around her, save the girl claiming to be Ranma, felt comforted that her powers had come back.

Evan was testing his own power, and found his bone spike abilities were available once again.

"What now?" Celeste asked after the girl Ranma finished freeing everyone.

To her surprise, Ranma went to the door and punched it, making it bend a bit.

"Damn it, wish I was in my guy form,"Girl-type Ranma cursed before she winded up her fist and punched the thick glass door several more times, breaking it down.

Naturally, such an occurrence would alert the base as the alarms blared.

Moving quickly, Ranma punched open the door of the room across from her and found several older mutants who also looked tired and haggard. After breaking their chains she set about freeing all the prisoners, and had reached the last one.

To Ranma horror, she saw Ryoga chained up much like she had been inside. However, his right arm was hanging limply on its side, the skin cracked open and exposed. If she didn't know any better, she'd say all it would take was one strong strike and Ryoga's arm would shatter. Quickly breaking open the door she rushed over to her rival.

"Ryoga..." Ranma muttered softly but the boy appeared to be unconscious. Ripping the cuffs off of him, she handed Ryoga over to a strong looking mutant that resembled a tree. "Be gentle with him please."

"I will," The tree guy, who called himself Bark, replied as he easily carried the injured stone mutant.

Running through the corridor, Ranma easily took out the sparse guards, knocking them out. "Celeste, read their minds, find us a way out."

Celeste moved ahead of the group, who were on alert for more attacks, and nodded. A moment later she looked down at the man before her. "His helmet is preventing me, like Magneto's, can you remove it?"

Ranma easily complied as he tore the helmet off to reveal a normal looking man. "Now, Celeste?"

"Got it!" Celeste eyes glowed as she rooted through the pig's head. He was a member of the U-Men, who wanted to harvest mutant organs. Nodding.

"Wait, show me," Ranma said, looking at a shocked Celeste.

"Wha?"

"Just this one time, you have permission to go in my head. Give me the information, I can scout ahead," Ranma responded and waited for the sensation of someone going into his head.

Celeste eased herself into Ranma's head and gave the girl-type Ranma all the necessary information. Along the way she caught snippets of keywords: training grounds and Jusenkyo, along with images of some pools with sticks long poles in them.

"Got it," Ranma nodded before turning to the group. "Wait for two minutes before following me. Celeste will lead you."

The group nodded as the redhead moved quickly through the north corridor. After the time was up, they moved as one and saw the bodies of soldiers all knocked out littering the floor. Relieved, they quickly ran after Ranma and found themselves on a metal bridge overlooking a Sentinels assembly line. Sentinels being assembled by the factory underneath them. The Sentinels here were recognized by most mutants present, though they appeared to be the urban combat type. After all 50ft tall sentinels can't infiltrate tight and narrow passage.

"Whoa, freaky," Evan said as he saw the assembly building the mutant hunting machines.

"This is why there can be no peace," Bloom gritted her teeth in anger as she watched the machine assemble more and more machines. Surprisingly enough, they had yet to be activated.

"You guys coming?" Ranma asked, startling the group. No one had heard the girl approach. "I cleared it all the way to the entra-"

Anything Ranma wanted to say was cut short as she dodged a figure clad in black. He had dropped directly down on her from the ceiling. Suddenly, the smaller Sentinels underneath them activated and flew up, their hands pointed at the group.

**"Mutant's detected, surrender or be destroyed."**

Celeste turned into her diamond form even as the other mutants got into fighting stances, as more of the smaller Sentinels activated and surrounded the group.

"Back into your cells, mutants," the black-clad figure spoke in a commanding tone before looking at Ranma. "You too, Saotome."

Ranma eyes widened, she recognized that voice. It couldn't be... "Ryu?"

The black clad figure removed his mask and gave the redhead girl a hard look. "I guess meeting again as enemies was inevitable."

"You work for them now?" Ranma spat in disgust.

Ryu narrowed his eyes. "I work for humanity now."

Then without warning, he slashed his arm and struck the girl-type Ranma, slamming her back against the door they just exited from.

"Ranma!" Celeste and Evan shouted as one in concern.

"I'll say it again," Ryu gave another hard look at all the mutants. "Back into your cells."

+++Outside+++

The secret Sentinel base's horns had stared blaring almost as soon as Cologne exited.

"Matriarch," one of the U-Men soldiers stopped. "Shouldn't we go back inside to restore order?"

"No," Cologne said as her hand blurred and slit the throats of the two soldiers, even as two more armor-clad soldiers ran toward her. "Pity, but we can't leave anyone alive. Shampoo, Mousse you finished the job?"

"Yes, great grand mother," Shampoo replied in Chinese. "We killed as many key scientists as possible, but only delayed the Sentinel attack."

"We'd best get back before the Council of Elders grow suspicious," Cologne said as she and her two aides commandeered an aircraft.

"What about ai- Ranma?" Shampoo asked, throwing a concerned look over her shoulder. Mousse in turn had a hard look to him, but acted as usual.

"What happens next will be up to son-in-law," Cologne sighed as the plane took off with Mousse flying it.

"He will not fail," Shampoo assured her grandmother.

"I certainly hope not, those children's lives are in his hands now."

TBC...

AN: And that's that! So yes that was herb at the beginning. I figure they wouldn't have much to talk about that I haven't already hashed out, so it would be filler. I also made the Mutant Olympic a backdrop to this arc because Ranma is the protagonist so I follow him around. I could do other PoV but those are too many and would make it bloated full of fillers. I like my stories on point and other POV could be side stories. If anyone wanna write those be my guest.

And yet again I peel back a bit more of this world and the new balance of power that has been created. Again Ranma battle with Saffron changed everything. This chapter also unveil girl type Ranma. I wanted to make her appearance count instead of it being slap stick to show that the curse is useful. I also will explain in the next arc on how Ranma could go incident free for an entire month.

So anyone that read X-men know that originally, Genosha sixteen million mutant population was slaughtered by Sentinels. This is kind of a play on that, those are not wild sentinels. We also now have the Avengers, Shields, the X-men, as much of them as possible, Magneto brotherhood and the world army, Aka U.S and anyone else that wants to help battling the Sentinels invasion.

I hope with this latest reveal, people get why I titled this Arc 'Supremacy.'

Thanks for the awesome reviews again! This story has a slow pace but there is the meta story broken across Arcs and the main story of each Arc. When the next chapter finish Arc 2/5 would be finished.

C+C appreciated Reviews welcome!


	9. Supremacy:Part Four

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

This fic was edited by Deathly and da big CHEESE! Seriously! They are awesome.

Homo Superior

Supremacy: Part Four

**** Secret CoH Sentinel Factory****

"Ranma!" Evan cried in alarm as he saw his guy-turned-girl buddy get smashed into the wall hard enough to leave an imprint. Turning to his friend's attacker, he jutted out multiple spikes along his body, showing off his namesake Spyke.

"Surrender and go back to your cell." the teen in front of them commanded. "I do not wish to hurt you anymore than necessary."

"Yeah right!" Evan scoffed as the other prisoners started to close in together, looking nervously at the Sentinels in the air. They weren't even big Sentinels, but they were made to kill mutants.

The teen before Evan sighed. "I did give you the option. Sentinels, att- what?"

Suddenly, the Sentinels all around them exploded, and the figure in front of the group had jumped back just in time to narrowly get cut by something nearly invisible.

"How could you learn it so fast?" Ryu shouted at the 'mutant' known as Ranma Saotome. The Demon God Vacuum barrage had taken him years to master, yet this 'mutant' had done it within months of meeting him. Truly they were a dangerous species.

"Skills fucker," Ranma answered as she landed in front of the group to their surprise. Her eyes had filled with disgust at the boy she thought was honorable. "Celeste!"

"Ye-Yes?" The blonde Cuckoo asked wondering what just happened to the Sentinels, but knew that it had something to do with Ranma spinning in the air like a top earlier.

"The rest of the way should be clear," Ranma said as she looked down to see more Sentinels activating and looking up at the group. "Go! I'll hold these fuckers off."

Evan looked up in alarm. "But-"

"Spyke! You know how to fight! Go, protect Celeste and lead them out of here!" Ranma ordered as she slashed her hand in the air and sent a vacuum blade at Ryu, forcing him back. Looking back at the group, she motioned for them to follow her to the door on the other side. "If you guys can shoot something at the Sentinels below, do so, move!"

"As if I'd let you!" Ryu snarled as he was forced back defensively, after all the girl was as highly skilled as ever, but he was not the same either. He answered her vacuum blades with his own.

Ranma saw several blades shooting towards the retreating group and jumped to intercept them, reinforcing herself with Ki. Gritting her teeth at the stinging sensation, she returned fire. Behind her, she saw the raining projectiles onto the sentinels below ground. Some of the mutants had some type of beam power, while others improvised, like the tree guy shot branches and Evan fired his bones.

Dodging the redhead girl's attacks, Ryu kept his calm and decided to jump directly into the middle of the group. Immediately he smashed his fist into the stomach of the black boy before using Bakusai Tenketsu on the tree that tried to attack him, making its hand explode and causing him to shout in pain. Unfortunately before he could continue, Ranma was already engaging him.

"Take them and go now!" Girl-Type Ranma ordered as the fury of Ryu's attack seemed to have stunned the group. To his amazement, he saw Bloom clutch onto Bark's hand and soothe it somehow. Engaging the military boy, she forced him out of their group as they started to enter the corridor.

"Alpha Code 3241, Sentinels, eliminate the mutant prisoners," Ryu spoke into a wrist band and watched as the Sentinels flew toward the door.

"Moko Takabshia!"

A bright yellow beam fired at the door that the mutants had just escaped from, destroying it and making the corridor collapse on itself. The Sentinels paused at the obstruction and tried to shoot their way though.

Ryu narrowed his eyes at the redhead as she still kept her eyes on him, but fired a Ki blast of all things from her hand. "Who did you copy it off of this time? What's your ability, Mimicry?"

"Oh shut up!" Ranma shouted as she attacked the boy, sending more vacuum blades against the human sized robot things. "I can't believe you would dishonor yourself like this!"

The boy flinched, as if struck by Ranma's words, but then continued to fight with the girl.

"And what do you know of honor? Your race started this war!" Ryu snarled as he used a variation of the demon fist to try and rip the girl's heart out. She did not have her kerchief with her this time, so it would be a different fight. To his surprise, she deflected it and smashed both of her feet into his face, sending him flying back away from the escaping mutant door.

"I ain't talking about that stupid!" Ranma berated the boy in the black suit. "I'm talking about backing out on your promise of not using the Yama-Sen-Ken!"

Ryu, still in a ready stance, stiffened at the boy turned girl's words. For a fraction of a second, he felt ashamed by the girl accusation, but steeled himself immediately. "I will ensure my kind's survival!"

Ranma shook her head as the boy charged in at her. She noticed a few things had changed about Ryu since she last saw him. He was tougher, and considering what he did to the tree guy, she knew he went through the Breaking Point training. She calmly met the boy's charge in the middle of the ramp overlooking the Sentinels factory, and exchanged a flurry of vicious strikes.

Ryu was annoyed that his speed training never finished. The Amaguriken, would have been a good skill to acquire, yet it had taken him too long to master a skill his body had no pre-disposition to learn. He had nearly died trying to learn the Breaking Point, but what doesn't kill him only made him stronger. His movements were also tighter now, and more focused thanks to the Amazons.

Ranma hated to say it, but the Ryu that fought her now was better than the one she fought before. She was having a hard time trying to deflect all of his blows, though the fact that she could still hurt him with her girl side punches meant he had just recently learned the Breaking Point. Good thing for her, she used to fight a certain little boy-turned-piglet on a daily basis. In a way, Ryoga was her Breaking Point training, as eventually she didn't need to use as many punches to hurt him as she had the first time around. Frustrated at not being able to gain an opening, she decided to try a different tactic.

Ryu was glad for his slight reprieve from the girl, as she was only a few moves away from breaking through his defense and forcing him to retreat. However, the girl easily bounded within range of the Sentinels and started to destroy them with her fists. It was not until the girl had destroyed all of the Sentinels that were crowding the opening trying to lift the debris to go through that he realized what was wrong with the picture.

"Damn, how many robots did you guys make?" Ranma asked as her fist was slightly bleeding and cut from the shards. She made sure to aim for the Sentinels processor core. 'Wow... I actually paid attention to Ms. Pryde's lessons.'

Ryu couldn't believe it; the Sentinels ignored Ranma's attacks, letting her destroy them with impunity! Weren't they supposed to hunt for mutants? Did Ranma's mutation enable her to become invisible to their scanners? He lifted his wrist and gave his command. "Sentinels, Destroy the mutant!"

"Good luck with that," Ranma smirked as she held up the boy's wristband thingy in her hand tauntingly before speaking into it. "Sentinels, destroy all Sentinels."

"Unable to comply, unable to recognize voice authorization."

"Crud," Ranma pouted as she crushed the wrist communicator. She thought it had been such a clever move too. It was then she dodged the barrage of vacuum blades that came her way, she quickly used the Sentinels as cover from Ryu's attacks which cut through them, destroying them.

"You dumb machines, target that mutant!" Ryu shouted, pointing at the girl who dodged his attack. He was only destroying the Sentinels chasing after her, but without his command wristband, he couldn't give them anymore orders. The last one would be to capture the mutants. Still, oddly enough, the girl was not targeted.

"Hey Ryu! Incoming!" Ranma shouted as she rebounded off a flying sentinel and rocketed her fist into the boy's face, sending him falling down into the factory's ground level. She quickly twisted her body in mid-air and hooked her feet to the railings.

"You're coming with me!" Ryu shouted as he fired two air blades at the section of railing Ranma had hooked herself onto, and watched her fault to the ground level with him.

"Shit!" Ranma pushed off the cut-off section of the ramp as it came tumbling down. Rolling to her feet easily, she felt Ryu's incoming attack and deflect the first few punches before retaliating with high powered kicks of her own.

Ryu felt the little girl kick and had to retreat a few steps. The girl was light years better than when he first fought her. Umi-Sen-Ken or not, the first time they fought would have ended in a loss. He had thought he was ready, Hibiki was supposed to be Ranma's mutant rival, and he fell easily to the Breaking Point attack. He could not imagine that the girl Ranma was giving him so much trouble. She was easily twice as fast as her male form, even if her punches were not as strong.

Sensing the momentum on her side, Ranma upped the ante as they battled on the ground floor. There were bigger Sentinels on the ground flood who head moved slightly, as if looking at them for a moment, before snapping back to its original position.

One moment Ryu was defending well, and the next the girl had hammered him with the Chestnut Fist attack. He lost count after the first couple of hundred hits as the girl's fist blurred before she ended it with a sharp kick underneath his chin, sending him flying.

Lowering her foot from the last attack, Ranma saw Ryu pick himself up quicker then what she expected. "So why did you back out on your word of honor Ryu? What happened to never using the Yama-Sen-Ken? We trusted you!" Her eyes were now livid.

Ryu growled as he stood up and faced the smaller girl and spat. "Honor means nothing in the face of extinction!"

"You know by rule, if I find that you are practicing this without our permission, I am honor bound to stop you, even if it means making sure you can never do martial arts again." Ranma added in seriously. In all her time training, she never had to force someone to stop practicing the art. Most martial artists would honor their words when given. Even Happosai, though he would always find loopholes for anything else. Martial artists that practiced illegal techniques were severely punished, doubly so for secret techniques.

"Even if you kill me, it's too late," Ryu replied solemnly, full of shame at having broken his oath . "I already taught what I know and remembered to the Amazons."

"You did what?!" Ranma asked hysterically. The Amazons knowing the Yama-Sen-Ken was bad news, very bad, especially for a culture based on martial arts.

"I did what I had to, to ensure my race's survival." Ryu continued as he got into a fighting stance.

"And I'll do what I'll have to do for my school." Ranma set a hard look on her face. As a fellow practitioner of the same school, she was honor bound to make him unable to practice the Yama-Sen-Ken.

"Saotome!" Ryu shouted as he fired vacuum blades at the girl before trying to close in with a quick punch.

Ranma easily weaved through the attacks, and met Ryu's punch with one of her own. The moment their fists connected, the two fighters knew there was no going back as Ryu instantly tried to tear out Ranma's heart from her chest again. Ranma, in turn, pivoted off the outstretched arm and for once hit Ryu with as much force as possible.

Ryu saw the expression of the girl's face change. He had only seen it once before, when they were dueling to the death the first time. They both had each other in a choke hold and both were willing to kill the other to achieve victory. It was only because of her father's interference that he did not die that day.

There was no Genma Saotome there with them today.

Punches capable of shattering stone landed on the pig tailed girl, whose only response was to grunt. But Ryu knew that his punches had affected her, he heard the light snap from her delicate ribs. He did not, however, get away free as a few moments later Ranma, returned the favor by shattering his nose, making his eyes well up.

Despite their injuries, however, neither relented. Ryu hammered into Ranma, unable to get clear enough from the girl to use his more specialized attacks while the girl would slip under his guard to deal incredible damage to him.

It was the truest test of skill either had gone through before the girl retreated first, breaking the stalemate.

Ryu, who looked a lot worse for wear now with a busted lips and bloody nose spat in the girl's direction. "And this is why we have to strike first! Your kind is too powerful!"

Ranma, also suffering internal injuries, spat out a glob of blood and wiped it with the sleeve of her orange shirt, a conflicted look on her face. With Saffron it was different, with Herb it was different, even with Ryu the first time around it was different. She felt disgust at truly having to go out of her way to injure him to the point where he could never practice the art ever again.

"Ah fuck it."

Ryu stood still at the girl's ever changing expression.

"I think I delayed you long enough for the others to escape. I don't want to do this," Ranma gestured to herself and the state the serious boy was in. "I have to get confirmation from pops first..."

Ryu continued to look at the girl as if she'd grown a second head. "Do you not understand the seriousness of the predicament you are in?"

Ranma raised an eye brow as she watched him motion to all the Sentinels in the factory. "What are you even talking about? If anyone is in a predicament it would be you if we continued this fight."

Ryu blinked at Ranma, as if seeing her for the first time. "You naive fool, you really don't know what is going on out there do you?"

"Uh... Yeah, they gonna attack the Xavier School right?" Ranma guessed, her stance relaxing. The thing with Cologne had been odd. Then now he found all these capture mutants and was fighting Ryu, who had apparently dishonored himself. He wondered how his pops was gonna feel about Ryu not only breaking his promise but actually teaching the Amazons.

"It's about more than some school!" Ryu spat in anger. The girl was dense, being a mutant how could she not know? "This is the inevitable war between Mankind and Mutantkind."

Ranma blinked at that answer. "Oh... that crap again?"

Ryu narrowed his eyes at the girl's mocking tone and sighed. "I can respect Xavier for his vision, and even you for believing it. But he does not speak for all of Mutantkind. Your kind wants to destroy my people."

"What do you mean by your kind?!" Ranma sniffed as if offended. "Anyway, I ain't joining in no war, like I told Herb before, this ain't my war, and I'm not picking sides. Besides, if ya ask me, going to war because someone is different is stupid."

"In a perfect world, I would agree with you." Ryu nodded respectfully before looking at his opponent. "However, your kind does not want peace, and we will strike first before you are ready."

"So killing a bunch of innocent kids gonna do that for you?" Ranma mocked. "Maybe my roommate Beak would spawn an army of birds to help him conquer the planet! Oh or how about a bunch of cat girls just running around? I believe Aikihabara would be ecstatic by some of the animals girls I seen here. Oh, I know! It mu-"

"How about the sixteen million mutants that are gearing up for a war within the next five years?" Ryu interjected quietly. "Sixteen Million mutants, all believing in Magneto's dream. Trained to use their powers as destructively as possible."

"You talking about the Genosha people?" Ranma asked perplexed? How can you even train sixteen million anyway, it's not plausible.

Ryu closed his eyes and suddenly looked very tired. "I have accepted the fact that the blood of innocents would be on my hands."

Ranma got into a stance again as Ryu pinned his eyes on her.

"I have always respected you, and I know the great dishonor I have shown your family." Ryu spoke softly before bowing his head to Ranma. "I will not fight you anymore. Unfortunately, I cannot stop the Sentinels either since you destroyed my communicator band. However, if you could destroy the core, it would detonate this factory."

Despite the situation, Ranma sweated a bit. She was still lost as to what was going on and why Ryu suddenly appeared to have given up. Still, it made it easier on her until she could get confirmation from her father on what to do with Ryu. Then there was the Amazon headache.

"Goodbye Ranma Saotome, when next we meet it will be to the death," Ryu backed away from Ranma slowly as he jumped from machine to machine cradling his ribs.

"That's so weird..." Ranma shook her head at the retreating Ryu. She should have followed Ryu, but she didn't want to fight anymore. She had bigger problems to worry about, like all these Sentinels being cranked out. The factory ground level was the size of at least four of those giant supermarkets Jean took him to. Just how was he supposed to shut it off?

'Celeste?' Ranma thought hard. Hearing empty silence, he sighed. The one time he would like for the blonde girl to be in his head she wasn't.

"Ok, core then," Ranma mumbled to herself as she walked past the Sentinels on duty. Jumping high over one of the assembly arms she looked for the core and saw a large spherical object a short distance away.

It had been at least a good half an hour since her battle and chat with Ryu. Based on the map that Celeste gave her when they mind read that guy, they should be well outside of the base by now. She watched as four big Sentinels stood guard, facing forward against the Core.

"Right," Ranma nodded as she did not see any outlet to mess with or any wires running to it. Cupping her hand together she fired a Moko Takabisha at the core and to his dismay it barely scratched the metal plating. "Damn."

Not giving up, Ranma took her fist and start to punch at the plating and let out an excited cry as she saw it bend. "Alright!"

"_**Vandalism detected by non-mutant with abnormal strength."**_

"Huh what?" Ranma head snapped up to see of the four giant Sentinel heads had turned to look at her. "Uh... hey guys?"

"_**Vandalism will not be tolerated at the power facility, cease at once."**_

Now Ranma might not be too bright, but she could guess that the reason why these Sentinels that had ignored her up to now had taken an interest in her. Not only that, they were big to boot. Which would take some time for her to whittle down.

"**Operation Purification initiating in One minute**." A robotic voice sounded over the P.A.

From the roof of the buildings, Ranma could see little vents starting to opening up, enough for the smaller Sentinels to get through.

Ranma didn't have a chance in hell in stopping all of the Sentinels she saw that had assembled. The old Ghoul had lied, there weren't hundreds, there were thousands of the smaller type. It was then he saw the spots on the ground opening up with larger Sentinels about 25 feet tall being elevated up from somewhere. There were easily hundreds of them.

"**Operation Purification in forty five seconds."**

"Oh..." Ranma gasped softly. Maybe those were the ones Cologne meant. Closing her eyes, she knew what she had to do. She had been working on it especially for Ryoga. She didn't use it during the Saffron fight because she was all but sure it wouldn't work against a regenerating foe.

Cupping her hands together, she began to channel her overwhelming confidence into her hands.

"**Operation Purification twenty seconds."**

Gathering all of her confidence into the chi ball, she knew it wouldn't be enough to match Ryoga's Ultimate Shi Shi Hokodan. The simple matter was Ryoga's depression was greater than her confidence. However...what if she added her unwavering pride with her confidence? Suddenly a second color bled into the chi ball, a purple color. The ball immediately tripled in size as the two emotions tried to intertwine with one another, forming a spinning yin yang symbol in her hand.

"**Operation Purification, ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven-"**

Ranma channeled all of her energy into her 'conceited' attack, and saw the Sentinels look at her curiously.

"**Three..."**

Aiming the attack at the core she poured as much of herself into it as possible at the last second.

"**Two..."**

"Saotome Ultimate Attack-"

"**One."**

"Twin Lion Roar!" Ranma shouted as she fired a massive, dual color beam larger than Ryoga's Ultimate Shi Shi Hokodan at the core, and grinned as it at cut through the plating like butter.

"**Launch."**

No sooner had the Sentinels start to launch when the core exploded, its concussive force smashing into the roof and collapsing the entire facility onto the mutant hunting robots.

**** Sinister Laboratory ****

"...The death toll so far stands at six million but is still rising, in the wake of the recent information the U.N-"

Sinister waved the news report away. The humans have gotten bold. However, now he should have an easier time infiltrating Genosha and gathering the necessary genes for his perfect mutant. He was not sure if he wanted Ranma Saotome anymore; he had managed to steal some blood from Stark Medical. The boy was a regular human. His newest 'Marauder' was such a skilled human.

But...

It never hurt to have more volunteers. Pressing a button on his console, he summoned his newest Marauder.

"Yo, you called?" A handsome Asian boy folded his arms, looking at Sinister with a raised eyebrow.

"Taro, I would like you to stop your hunt for Rogue for now. Instead, go with a few of my Marauders and steal some DNA from their dead."

The boy Taro looked at his boss and smiled. "If any of them have good powers, I want it for my 'other' form."

"Well, how can I say no?" Sinister grinned. "After all you did bring me a few of these... Phoenix tribe and Musk soldiers to experiment on."

With a matching grin, Taro gave a smart salute and left for Genosha.

Sinister smiled. Maybe he would go after Ranma Saotome. After all, these Jusenkyou 'curse' forms have proven to be quite malleable.

**** Unknown Location ****

"Not worthy," Apocalypse declared as he looked at the mutant death toll. His clan members were behind him looking at the great master.

"Great Lord, the newest report about the boy," An Akkaba scout entered and gave the report to his master.

"Hmmm..." the first mutant looked at the report and grinned. "Impressive. Any words on the Twin Staves?"

The Akkaba clansman looked at each other and bowed. "Still nothing my lord, our best trackers are still out in the field."

Apocalypse merely grunted in acknowledgment.

*** Genosha ***

Charles Xavier looked at his oldest friend and sighed. Magneto was looking out at his ruined island nation. The damage was catastrophic, the death toll staggering. Here and there he could still see workers volunteering from all over the world helping with the relief effort.

"They did this to us," Magneto, leader of Genosha balled his fist so tightly at the complete devastation that was his nation. His.

"Erik..." Xavier defended his friend.

"You started it."

Turning around both saw the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.S walking toward them. In his hands were a portfolio of some sort.

"Fury," Magneto tilted his head in acknowledgment. A Flatscan he may be, but he was still to be respected.

"Magneto," Fury returned the greeting, though there was a hard look in his eye. "The U.N is pulling out their aid workers within the hour."

"What? Why?" Xavier asked, looking at the one-eyed black man. "How could they abandon people in need?"

"Easy," Nick Fury responded, but there was a hint of respect in his voice. "The U.N feels that lending aide to a hostile country hell bent on kill them is a waste of time, men, and resources."

Xavier looked shocked, but saw that his friend had turned his back on the two. "Why would they th-"

As if in answer to his unfinished line of questioning, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.S tossed the portfolio to the cripple bald man.

Xavier slowly opened and read its content, his eyes widening, half in shock the other half in outrage. "Erik! Is this true?"

In the portfolio were first strike targets for the Genosha military and plans for annexation of neighboring countries. Most of them listed the covert ops that were already taking place to destabilize the region.

"Well, they got to us first." Magneto glared at his oldest friend. "But this now, more than ever, justifies why we do what we must."

"Erik!" Xavier angrily glared at his friend. This could have been the turning point, the moment of unprecedented cooperation between Homo Sapiens and Homo Superior began, but all of that was gone. He could not blame the U.N.

"I only authorized covert operations," Magneto pointed out as he began to hover slightly. "They attempted genocide once again. There will be a reckoning."

Xavier bowed his head down at the losses that would happen. It seemed that war was inevitable now, if not in his life time, then in the next. What were they passing down to their children?

Nick Fury took this time to go up to the man in a wheelchair. "I'll plan for the worst, but I will hope for the best. I still believe your school is our best hope for peace."

With that, he left the stunned professor behind with a lot to think about.

**** Unknown Location ****

Cologne waited patiently as the elevator came to a stop in their underground base. Beside her were her two most trusted lieutenants; her great granddaughter Shampoo (Xian Pu) and Mousse (Mu tsu).The elevator stopped as it reached the lowest level and opened up to a scene of chaos.

"Matriarch Cologne," a green haired woman greeted the elder crone warmly. "I am glad you made it out of that base before the core ruptured."

"Hmmph," Cologne scoffed. "My first visit to a base and what happens? You have too many useless males on guard duty, Madam Hydra."

Madam Hydra grinned widely. "I know, but those are the only help we have nowadays. Even your Amazons could only do so much, and they are far better."

"Of course they are," Cologne nodded, then motioned her head. "Here, the blood samples, too bad your doctor... what was his name, Klaus? died."

"Ah yes, my one eyed mad scientist friend," Madam Hydra nodded as one of the female guards wearing a Hydra uniform took the case of blood samples from Mousse. "It's a pity, but there are always more at A.I.M. Care to take a tour of this stronghold?"

"Wait." Another voice just rasped.

The group turned to see another withered old woman like Cologne hopping on her stick, and behind her were two female Amazon guards.

"Pah Fum," Cologne's eyes narrowed as the Elder of the Amazons and her house rival snatched the case from the surprised Hydra guard and opened it before anyone could protest.

"My my my," Pah Fum tsked as she looked at the case containing at least 30 vials of blood. "I thought there were more than 50 new mutants captured."

"Are you insinuating something?" Cologne glared as the two's battle auras flared up. The guards by Madam Hydra had to take a step back.

"Ladies. Ladies, please." Yet another voice interrupted.

The two ancient women turned to the new voice. The owner was a tall, white, bald woman, who looked incredibly pleased. The two Elders eyes narrowed, sensing the oddities in the woman's aura. Then again so where a lot of the superhumans under the Coalition's employ.

"No need to fight among friends!" Cassandra Nova smiled toothily at the two old women. "After all, we have other enemies to content with."

It was Pah Fum who turned to the bald woman and looked at her in contempt. "Yes, enemies that you failed to eliminate. Genosha still stands and your Wild Sentinel army was wiped out."

If the accusation offended the bald woman, she didn't show it, instead widening her grin. "Ah but you see, it was not a total loss. Their military, base of operations and training groups have been all but destroyed. Their injured number almost as much as their dead and after we revealed to the U.N what they did behind closed doors, they are now cut off from humanitarian aid."

"Yet you still lost us an army." Pah Fum insisted as she glared at the thing wearing human skin. She was all but certain of it.

"Ah but my dear friends," Cassandra smiled as she tapped on the window to reveal a giant complex populated by men and women in lab coats checking on their creations. "That is why we are building new ones that are far superior."

Cologne looked through the glass and saw the newest type of sentinel. It was barely built, but already she could see its frame connected to dozen of wires. Its exterior was black but scaly like an alligator and for some reason it had two eyes but no mouth. She could not help but suppress a shudder upon seeing them.

"You see, when the war comes, we will be unstoppable," Cassandra chuckled.

*** Xavier Institute ***

Ranma opened his eyes and blinked away his bleariness. Already he could guess where he was, the sound of beeping and the dim lighting gave it away. He was in the medical sector of the X-Men base. His mind was still foggy, but he slowly took in his surroundings, and noticed it was a different room from before. Getting up to move, he noticed that he was tightly constricted by some kind of body cast.

It was then he noticed the little breathing apparatus on his mouth, it was flowing air into face, making it easier for him to breath he supposed. Lifting his arms, he saw that they were also bound tightly in bandages. Then it came back to him, the explosion that he took point blank to the face.

'Heh, wonder how long I was out for this time?' Ranma thought as he slowly poured his Ki into his hand and saw a small ball ignite. 'Still got it, which means I am getting out of here.'

Sitting up, he noticed that like before, there were no windows or clocks anywhere, so he couldn't tell time. Not that he cared, as he'd find out soon enough. With a gentle flex from his arms, he broke out of the cast and took the breathing mask away. Slowly, he pushed himself up and noticed there was no hospital gown covering him. With ease, he flexed his legs and broke the bindings there as well. He vaguely remembered that there were some extra gowns sometimes lying around in the closet or by the patient bed.

Since it was only him in the room, he didn't care about being naked and bent down by his bed to search for an extra gown but couldn't find any. He stepped towards the closet just as his door opened to reveal Akane, Sybil, and Celeste looking taken aback as they looked startled before they started to stare.

"You girls are blocking the doo- oh, Ranma..." Jean stopped stunned as she looked at her patient up and about. A patient that should not be up and about, a very naked patient. It was then she saw Ranma's ex-fiancée's temper acting up.

"Ranma you pervert!"

"Oh I'm dead," Ranma sighed as he saw Akane's fury building, and closed his eyes as he heard her famous battle cry.

There was the sound of Akane's fist impacting something hard before a loud cry of pain could be heard.

"Akane! Control yourself this instant!" Jean chided after having recovered. It had happened unexpectedly fast as the girl went from kind and sweet to raging, trying to hit a recovering Ranma for being naked. Her telekinesis was already holding the girl in place.

Ranma felt something heavy slam into him, something big, he opened his eyes to see the diamond form of Celeste on top of him. "Uh... hi?"

"... Hi."

"Celeste, Sybil," Jean spoke up, looking at the diamond girl on top of Ranma and the cat girl who was still staring wide eye at Ranma. "Out."

Celeste in diamond form quickly got off the boy and grabbed a still stunned Sybil's arm on the way out. The catgirl did not protest and followed, out dragged by the blonde.

As soon as the girls were out, the door closed and Jean went to the closet and took out a folded gown. She promptly tossed it to the messy haired boy who quickly fastened it over his body, his face as red as a tomato. That done, she gave her patient a hard glare.

Not much scared Ranma, cats being one of the few things on that list. Jean, however, with her hair kind of flaring, that damn image of the bird behind her again, and if he didn't know better, fire in her eyes, sca- intimidated him a bit.

"Ranma..."

Ok, so maybe intimated him a lot. At least there was no mallet... that he could see. Unless she planned on hitting him with a telekinetic mallet. He chuckled at the thought of not being able to see that attack coming.

"How long have you been up and about before you decided too I dunno... break out of all your bandages?" Jean asked in a tone that said she was none too impressed.

"Umm, er... just now?" Ranma ventured, trying to force himself to smile to show that he was okay. It was then that Jean stepped closer to him, making him swallow hard.

"And did you happen to, I dunno, maybe look at the note above your head in case you did wake up?" Jean asked again, stalking toward the boy.

"What not-oh?" Ranma protested but saw a little note clear as day that wrote. _Ranma! If you wake up, press the red button!_ "Ah... that note..."

"Yes, that note," Jean sarcastically replied before she was only mere inches away from him.

Ranma, as intimated as he was by this woman, did not back down but instead channeled his soul of ice to keep calm and to cool. To his surprise, the woman lunged at him, making his close his eyes for the incoming hit only to feel himself in an embrace. Not a glomp, but an embrace, a nice tender hug.

"Jean?"

"I am glad you are okay Ranma...when they found you... My god..." Jean whispered softly before letting the boy go and looked at Ranma who looked perfectly healthy. A major contrast compared to how they found him. "Sit."

Ranma turned to were where Jean pointed as she wore some gloves and took out some type of scanner. "So how long was I out for doc?"

"Five days," Jean replied absently as she started to touch Ranma's muscles through his clothes, checking for his reaction. "We put you under for three days and weaned you off the anesthetic for the last two days."

"No clue what you just said, but I got the five days part." Ranma mused as his doctor felt his chest and neck. "I feel fine, though I usually bounce back faster..."

Jean stopped and looked at Ranma with a raised eyebrow, but made no comment. "Your healing factor is amazing; I've never seen anything like it on a normal human."

"Heh, I'm the best after all!" Ranma puffed his chest out proudly before Jean took out a sharp pin.

"Tell me if you can feel this," Jean said before she proceeded to lightly pierce part of Ranma with the pointed tip. She was afraid that the burn would have made him less sensitive, but everything appeared normal and, as much as she hated to admit it, Ranma, as impossible as it seemed, looked fine. Although he now had a few more scars on his body that didn't heal up properly, not unlike Saffron's bite.

"Oh hey, if Celeste is here then they warned the school in time, did the school get attacked?" Ranma asked worriedly. He knew he blew up the building, but wasn't sure of the outcome.

"There was no attack, whatever you did collapsed the entire complex upon itself... we found you burnt and bleeding in the rubble..." Jean shuddered as she remembered how horrible he looked when she got back from Genosha. The few remaining X-Men with the Elites and surprisingly Young Brotherhood went to the Sentinel facility to stop the attack. Instead they found Ranma and brought him back here.

"...New moves could use some work..." Ranma muttered softly, the two emotion combo was powerful, and already his bread and butter. Then another thought occurred to him. "So... how's Ryoga?"

"Why Ranma, I do believe you are genuinely concerned about your friend if you're not making nicknames for him." Jean teased and saw the messy haired boy grumbled.

"Yeah yeah, his arms looked kind of messed up, like a broken road, you know?" Ranma pointed out and saw Jean toss the glove in the trash bin.

"His arm were heavily damaged, but, thanks to Forge, they were able to fuse the broken pieces back together. Although whenever he is in his human form now, that arm will become useless." Jean sighed with a heavy heart. One of their students captured and experimented on. When asked for more information about the Amazons, Kiima had divulged all she knew, along with an enraged Prince Herb. The only part that did not make sense to her was the escape. According to what Ranma told her in their therapy session, the one known as Cologne should know about his curse, so why would she willingly help him escape? She had told Akane and Ryoga to keep quiet about the matter.

Something major was going on, and this woman might be an ally. She'd ask Ranma more about it later. Speaking of whom, he looked horrified at what she had just told him.

"Ranma you saved his life, we couldn't find him. That facility had been shielded to evade even Cerebro. If you weren't there... I would hate to imagine what could have happened to him."

"Still... sucks you know?" Ranma shuddered, he could only imagine. Ryu seriously believed there was a war coming. Looking up at his most trusted confidant, he asked her for confirmation.

"Jean... do, do you really think a war is coming between humans and mutants?"

Jean looked at Ranma and frowned. What he just asked was a very simple, but complex question. After a few minutes of silence between the two, she sat next to him on his bed. "No. I don't think so, there will be many that want to believe it's inevitable, but that is what we are fighting to prevent. I promise that as long as I live, I will do whatever it takes to prevent it."

Ranma heard the conviction in Jean's voice and saw the steadfastness of her demeanor. It wasn't fanatical; it was a look he knew quite well. Confidence.

"Okay."

Placing a comforting arm around the boy, she gave him a reassuring squeeze and stood up. "Okay, so, I bet you're hungry."

"Hell yeah!" Ranma jumped up looking happy before a thought occurred to him. "You guys didn't destroy my clothes again, did you?"

Jean remained silent for a second and giggled. "Yes, Ranma, we did, BUT in all fairness, that shirt was ugly so... no big loss."

"It was a nice orange pastel color!" Ranma defended his attire vehemently.

"You look horrible in it," Jean egged on and saw the boy fold his arms and looked away from her. "I got some clothes for you, a red button up shirt and black khaki pants."

Ranma was still put off by the flack that he was getting for the shirt, and turned away from the pretty redhead.

Giggling, Jean went to open the door just before Kiima could knock.

"DADDY!"

"Oh no-guuff!"

Jean watched as her son tackled his 'father' and nuzzled him affectionately, not unlike how birds she had seen had done. "Saffron, your 'daddy' just woke up, be gentle."

"I knew you wouldn't stay asleep for long, Daddy's the strongest and I heard daddy beat up a lot of the bad guys and saved people!"

With a put upon expression, Ranma rubbed the top of his 'son's' head. "Errr... right... sure did. Kicked lots of robot asses."

"Ranma!" Jean chided. "Language."

"Daddy's so awesome!" Saffron nodded as she jumped off, looking at Ranma with hero worship in his young eyes.

"Lord Ranma," Kiima nodded to the resilient fighter and handed the bag of clothes to Jean. "Come Lord Saffron. Lord Ranma needs to change.

Saffron looked like he wanted to object, but Ranma saw the problem.

"Don't worry, once I am done, we'll train again, okay?"

"Yay! Training again!" Saffron happily agreed and followed Kiima outside.

"Here you are," Jean tossed the bag to Ranma. "Get dressed, and then we'll go get you something to eat."

Those was the magic words as Ranma took a quick shower after Jean left and looked at his new clothes. He glared at the boxers with the little firebirds prints on it, no doubt Jean's idea of phoenixes.

"Hardy, har har."

Putting on the black khakis, red button shirt, and black sneakers, Ranma was ready to go. He had to admit the clothes were pretty comfortable, although he still preferred his Chinese version. He didn't think this would be as durable in a fight. Well, a Nerima fight anyway.

Grinning, he walked out the door and was greeted by a red faced Celeste, a red faced angry looking Akane, and a Sybil who was not acting as her usually cheery self ducking her head the moment his eyes met hers. It was kind of awkward. "So... uh sorry ya had to see that, and it wasn't on purpose!"

"You really shouldn't... be sorry that is..." Celeste answered haltingly and ignored an angry Akane glaring at her. "Glad to, uh... see you up and about."

"Yeah..."

There was moment of awkward silence before Jean cleared her throat and led the group out. Saffron joyously took his father's right hand into his while beaming at the pig tailed boy. Ranma wanted to pull his hand out, but after seeing that expression he knew he couldn't.

"So what happened after you guys left?" Ranma asked the blonde who was actually there; he noticed that Sybil still seemed lost in thought while Akane was looking at the wall. Why was she acting jealous if she broke the engagement off herself?

"Well..." Celeste leaned in closer and spoke in a lower tone, knowing that her proximity to Ranma would piss Akane off. "When we got to the main entrance, most of the guards were dead."

Ranma looked at Celeste in wide eyed alarm. "Everyone?"

Celeste nodded her head. "Afterward, Evan was able to commandeer a radio and contact Ms. Pryde, who had stayed back at the institute. Before we knew it, the building started to collapse in on itself..."

Ranma saw the girl visibly pale as she recalled the memories. "Sorry, that was my fault, didn't know that was going to happen myself."

Suddenly, Celeste turned diamond form and smacked Ranma's shoulder with her left hand. "You think I was scared over an explosion?"

Ranma was confused as to the girl's seemingly frustrated and irritated eyes.

"Evan said he was going to want a piece of you too when he sees you up and about," Celeste spoke up again as she decided to stick to Ranma's left. Seeing his more confused expression, she rolled her eyes. "We were worried about you dumbass!"

"Oh!" Ranma finally understood where the blonde diamond was coming from. "Is that all?"

"Is that all?" Celeste stood and seemed to shake in place before glaring at Ranma. "You had tons of metal on you, you were burnt, and there was rebar sticking out of you!"

"Celeste..." Ranma didn't know what else to say, but the girl was still in her diamond form. It was fascinating how he was able to read the nuances of her face even in this form. "I just did what I had to do... sorry."

Celeste seemed to have had enough and fell silent, still staying on his left.

It didn't take them much longer to reach the elevator, but when he did, he didn't see the usual influx of students.

"Whoa, no class today?" Ranma wondered out loud as the place appeared quiet.

"Some are home with their families, others are helping to clean up the various parts of the school that were used for the games."

"Oh, who won that game?" Ranma asked, but saw all the girls, even Jean, looked downcast.

"It was a tie," Celeste answered for the others. "However, remember when... they talked about how Genosha was under attack?"

"Oh... OH!" Ranma's eyes widened, haven't forgotten all about that. "What happened there?"

"Too much," Jean sighed. The death toll was the worst ever for mutant kind. "At least seven million confirmed dead at last count, their cities and towns leveled... the Genoshan students went home two days ago."

"Bloom and Inferno told me that they owe you a debt," Celeste told Ranma, much to Akane's surprise. "The Young Brotherhood agrees."

Finally, they reached the Cafeteria that appeared to have a somber mood to it. Ranma could not help but feel bad. He couldn't really grasp their feeling, Not really, but he could be respectful.

"Ranma!"

The boy in question turned around and saw a happy Beak, a grinning Evan, and a content Myst heading toward them.

"Damn you!" Evan shouted as he punched Ranma as hard as he could in the chest. "You had us worried sick!"

"Yeah, sorry and all that." Ranma shrugged, but he meant it.

"G-good to see you u-up and a-about Ra-ranma," Beak blurted out in a hurry upon seeing all the pretty girls in Ranma's company.

"Beak!" Ranma greeted his friend warmly. It was then he noticed Saffron looking at Beak oddly. His roommate appeared to be quite nervous.

Beak didn't know why but the little boy's stare was unnerving to him. It felt like he was in the presence of an apex predator. "Uhh... I'll see you later, bye Ranma!"

Myst floated up to Ranma, and for a single second solidified enough so that she could give him a hug. Unfortunately, it only lasted a momentsand before anyone knew it, Myst lost her form and broke all over Ranma.

When the girl finally recovered, she noticed that Evan was staring at a red head that was dressed like Ranma. The shirt now seemed painfully tight while the pants became so loose that the girl had to hold it with one hand to keep them from falling.

Only Sybil, who hadn't seen the transformation before, saw the boy turn into a redhead. Even their scent was different. Was Ranma a mutant after all? Had the event stressed him out enough it activated his X-gene?

"Ok, first of all, this is not a mutation, I had this for a while now," Ranma spoke up for both Evan and Sybil's benefit. To Ranma's surprise, the group simply nodded after he gave them a brief explanation about Jusenkyo.

"If the water is supposed to hit you at all odd times, how come you have been accident free for so long?" Sybil asked, finding the whole thing fascinating. She briefly wondered if she were to take a dip in the spring of drown girl like Ranma, she would return to normal. Shaking her head at her unworthy thought, she looked to boy turn girl.

"I dunno," Ranma shrugged. "Sometimes random squalls happen, or a cup of water flies at me, or the garden hose would break at odd times spraying me."

"…That's ridiculous," Celeste murmured. It felt more like bad luck then a curse.

"Hmm, you know, I had asked Illiyana about your curse," Jean spoke up, looking at the now red headed female. "She thinks it's because of Storm and all the water mutants in the school that's interfering with how your curse works."

"Really?" Ranma asked, bugged eyed, and even the other girls seemed interested.

"Storm always has to control the weather, so if an odd squall developed, she would will it away, and as for on school grounds, The water based students might have interfered with water that was meant for you with their manipulation as being water powered, they would attract water to them."

"And act like a buffer to Ranma's curse." Sybil reasoned with Jean as she glanced at the red head once more.

"Does that mean... I won't have to worry about random splashes anymore?!" Ranma asked excitedly, her eyes full of joy.

"I would assume only when you are within school grounds," Jeans confirmed before smiling at the red head. "You still have to be careful when you are outside."

Ranma appeared ecstatic at the news before she glanced down at her shirt.

"Damn, this is too tight." Ranma had enough and unbutton the top part of her shirt exposing a generous amount of cleavage that had Evan cupping a hand to his nose.

'That's X-women caliber breast!' Evan thought as his eyes found themselves unable to tear away from those fleshy white mounds.

"Evan, my eyes are up here." Ranma glared at her friend. Before she exhaled making her body do interesting things for the boy in question.

"Daddy's a mommy too?!" Saffron, who had been silent all this time, asked with wide eyed wonder. "I get TWO mommies?!"

Ranma did not like where the little brat thoughts were going and niped that in the bud. "NO! You only have one! I'm still your dad in this form!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Jean turned away and giggled at Ranma being outplayed by a little kid, but could not help but be warmed by the thought that Ranma accepted his role as Saffron's father.

'Fuck!' Ranma wish there was a stone pillar nearby so that she could bang her head against it. It was then she noticed that the Cafeteria, which and been somber before now appeared to be looking at her with great interest.

"Told you he was a mutie, you owe me five."

"Damn! That dude is stacked!"

"Did you even listen to yourself speak?!"

"You're right, that boy turned girl is stacked! Might have been a girl all this time, right?"

"... You dumbass!"

Myst's expression, however, changed from one of confusion to understanding. "Rule."

"Rule?" Ranma parroted his best friend.

"Six." Myst continued with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Three."

Ranma did not understand why Evan suddenly broke down into laughter. He didn't get it. What was rule six three?

TBC...

Next Arc: Broken Future!

AN: Thanks for those that have been reading this. I hope that with the closing of this arc, that it the word Supremacy all make sense for why I titled it this way. Human Supremacy, Mutant Supremacy, Moral Supremacy. All layer after layer, yet still a part of the bigger over reaching meta arc.

Also yes, those new Sentinels they are making is the one from the X-Men movie, Days of the Future past.

AS for the next arc, the title say it all, after all! What X-Men story would be complete without one?!

AS for the whole water magnet, it might be too clean but you know what, there are a ton of mutants that use their power on a daily basis. Who knows!

Thanks for those that left a review! ^_^

As always C+C welcome, reviews appreciated!


	10. Broken Future: Part One

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

This chapter was edited by my trifecta of Editors, Mingyu, Death and the ever hard at work Big Cheese. Who will be unable to work with m on future chapter until April! ;_;

Enjoy

Homo Superior

Broken Future: Part One

**** Main Grid 001, 21XX ***

Corporal John Wilson, a tall, scarred man in his early thirties, opened his eyes in anticipation of the battle that was to come. The War, as it has been called since anyone could remember, was about to end, one way or another. The machines were on the ropes, their bases all in ruins; their last surviving stronghold was here in what was once called New York. The Free People of Earth had wanted to avoid this last battle; they had wanted to bottle up the damn Machines inside the New York area. But the High General had convinced them that if they didn't strike now, with everything they had, the Machines would rebuild faster than the Free People could recover.

And when the High General spoke, you listened.

This battle would be for all the marbles. They would die or the machines would, there would be no compromise. So here he was standing, clad in power armor in the troop transport advancing to the final battle. He looked across the carrier to see his comms officer listening intently to the chatter through his headset. Everyone in the transport, all two hundred of them clad in clunky battle armor, strained to eavesdrop on the battle chatter.

The comms officer, Hicks, saw everyone's expectant looks toward him and grinned. "The High General has broken through the main front! The Seventh Army is moving into the heart of the Sentinel factory!"

There was a thunderous roar from all the men and women in the transport as if they too had played a part in the victory. Their captain, a tough grizzled man wearing with a bird emblem on his chest, activated his power suit and walked onto the ramp inside the transport.

"Well then, boys and girls, looks like it is our turn. We're gonna hit their goddamn flank and hit it fucking hard! We're the 12th, boys, it's now up to us to finish this!"

There was another thunderous roar. Moments later the floor underneath the soldiers opened up, showing dark clouds. Wilson had heard that the sky hadn't always been dark and gray and even used to have something called 'sunlight' filtering through. His mother had said that it was due the nuclear fallout, or something of that nature, that smog had blanketed the Earth. He wasn't too sure himself.

Suddenly the transport rocked hard and their Captain looked up, smiling fatalistically.

"Looks like we're here for the party boys! All units DROP! DROP! DROP!"

Even as their captain spoke the soldiers hit the release switches on their clamps and dropped down to the battlefield. Wilson hit his a few second later and saw his HUD kick in as he was in freefall. Looking out in the distance, he could see blue and red dots tangled up on his display and in the air all around them. There were explosions that detonated near him from the destroyed crafts, or lucky hits on the dropped soldiers. There must have been at least ten of thousands of troops being dropped, with more being released.

A few seconds later, Wilson fell to the ground, his battle suit cushioning the impact. He was not one of the Gifted; just a normal Flatscan. Thankfully, the suit made up the difference. Looking up at his transport, he saw that as soon as the last soldier was dropped the transport itself transformed into its fighting configuration and flew off towards the aerial battle. From the ground he could see hundreds of red dots light up the sky over the Machine base.

"Alright boys! Forward!"

"HUA!" The soldiers yelled as one as they regrouped and charged toward the main battle. Over their heads were streaks of light originating from behind them where massive artillery strikes hammered the Machine army. The Machines in turn fired beams of energy the size of cannons, disintegrating any soldiers that they touched instantly.

"Move! Move! Move!" The Captain yelled, ignoring the beam that nearly grazed his own group. "Come on maggots MOVE!"

Wilson felt his heart beating fast, his bio display confirmed as much. A quick glance from the corner of his eyes showed the surge of the Free People Army in a blanketing wave, even as the yellow beams hit them at various points in their lines.

Keeping his legs churning, he noticed that the ground beginning to rise. Eyes forward, Wilson could see that they were getting closer to the artillery strike zone. Sending the command for his suit to load up his energy packs, he heard thousands of mechanical arms raise in anticipation of the fight to come.

They were not disappointed, as thousands of black sentinels, Nimrod- Class Sentinels and even giant fifty-footers, damaged as some of them may have been, moved out in a single-file lines and began firing at the sea of humanity from the artillery strike zone.

"FIRE!" The captain shouted, and thousands upon thousands of pulse ion energy rounds fired into the sentinels, destroying the front line of the group immediately.

There was a furious exchange between man and machine for a few minutes before the Machines' front crumbled.

"Push Forward!" the Captain shouted as he took aim at a half-broken sentinel and destroyed it with his pulse canon.

Wilson saw a couple of broken Sentinels that still had life in their eyes and leveled his guns at them. Releasing a quick burst of fire, he put them out of their misery and continued to surge forth with his unit.

"Melee units!" Some shouted in alarm as thousands of Sentinels, these ones made to look like four-legged animals, burst up through the ground and killed thousands of soldiers instantly. There was panic fire as these 'Feral' Sentinels, notoriously known as the 'dogs' of the Machines, wreaked havoc in the humans' line and blunted the surge.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Someone yelled in panic as he fired his weapons at the beast. The worst thing about feral types was its part mixed vibranium carapace, making it almost indestructible.

"Concentrate your fire!" The captain yelled as hundreds of guns turned on each of the Feral Sentinels and fired into them. Even under fire, the four-legged machines kept moving toward the line, but eventually the ionic energy of the suits' weaponry melted the armor and fried their internal circuitry.

By the time the soldiers took care of that, a second wave of Sentinels surged out from their facility.

While the High General, with the combined forces of the 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th and Gifted, were hammering at the front lines of the Sentinels. The 1st and the 12th were responsible for destroying the special power processing plant that was tied to many of their automated defenses.

Wilson took cover and leveled his guns as more 10ft Sentinels made their way out, the Urban warfare kind. After firing on them immediately, the Sentinels turned and began a vicious fire fight, denying the humans access to the facility. If they didn't take out the power source they couldn't hit the Sentinels factory with the super EMP bomb that would shut down most of the machines except for the specialized unit type.

Ducking under another beam, Wilson noticed that his energy pack was starting to get low. The battery should have lasted a good two hours of continuous fire. He had used it sparingly, not wanting to waste it. Looking at his extra energy pack he saw that he had been grazed by an attack and his extra ammo reserves had been destroyed.

"Damn it," Wilson cursed and turned around to his closet squad mate to ask for ammo. "You got anymore extra…ah..."

The person that had been behind him was slumped forward, his head missing. Wilson couldn't even remember the person's name, but he had ammo packs on him. Taking them off the dead soldier's body, he saw that there was still a heavy firefight being waged in the darkness. Leveling his guns he took aim and fired at the turtling Sentinel forces.

How long the next section of the battle went on for, Wilson did not know. Only when he heard the clacking of his empty armament did he realize he was once again out of ammo. Time mattered little to him at the moment, just surviving. The rate of fire still had not let up as both sides seemed stuck in this damned entrenched warfare. Looking around, he found that most of his squad mates were dead, and the ones left alive were still firing. He noticed that most of the bodies of his fallen squad had been rummaged for extra ammo. He was about to give up all hope of continuing the fight when he finally spotted one on another fallen.

"Thank Blessed Xavier," Wilson breathe in relief, he did not want to go all the way back to the rear to resupply. It was a point of honor to be here when they brought the machines down.

"Arggggh!"

"AAHHHH!"

"Noo -ukrrrrkk!"

Alarmed, Wilson turned around to see a dark cloud had washed out over the soldiers in the area. Many where now writhing in agony.

**"Sentinel Nanite Cloud detected, Suit compromise in thirty second."**

Wilson's eyes widened in fear. He remembered the Nanite cloud that had been used on the colony of Latveria. All of the people of that nation had been dissolved into a mass of flesh and blood. Thankfully the battle suit he was in had anti-nanites called Jarva, but it would be nowhere near enough against the encroaching dark cloud.

"Fall back!" the Captain shouted as the firing on the front line lightened amidst the screams of the dying. Soldiers caught up in the Sentinel Nanites' fatal embrace were written off as lost. Some even detonated their suits before they could be taken.

Wilson ran even as his suit showed that it was beginning to lose structural integrity. However, as he ran, a strange thing happened. A fog had somehow appeared and blanketed the soldiers, his HUD was covered in mist, allowing for zero visibility.

"Secondary presence sensed, Sentinel Nanites purged, system operating within normal range."

Wilson looked at his HUD readout on his frame which had been red, but now glowed a pleasant blue. Blinking, he turned around and saw the misty fog mixed in with the dark cloud and detonated across the entire front line. After the explosions cleared, he could see the white mist intertwine with the dark cloud and float high into the air.

"I'll be damned! It's General Myst!" the Captain shouted in disbelief while laughing. His celebration was cut short when an explosion engulfed the defending Sentinels at the facility entrance.

"What the!?"

"Did you see that!"

"It can't be!"

"By Xavier, it's the Angel!"

Wilson made his way to the front through the white mist which he now realized was the powerful mutant general, to catch a glimpse of the Angel. He had heard of her and soldiers regularly invoked her name as a good luck charm.

The first things he saw were pure white, pristine wings, wings he had only once seen on a bird in a rare book as a child. His mother had called it a dove. It was, however, the person that the wings were attached to that drew his attention, even as the Sentinels burned before her. Beautiful red and white hair cascaded in curls all the way to her shoulders. Arresting green eyes on a face that looked clean and unmarred even as she waded through the machine ranks. She appeared tall, but not too tall, and she wore a bodysuit of pure white and red. In her hands were two staves, one with a crescent like hook, another spinning fiery disk. Finally, the last thing that stood out was the emblem bearing some kind of bird over her generous breasts.

She was... perfect.

Suddenly the sky was painted with flames as the dark cloud that been interlocked with the white mist appeared to be reduced to nothing.

"Commander!" the Captain snapped to attention as the Angel stood surveying the destruction she had wrought.

The Angel turned to looked at the captain and gave a soft smile, acknowledging him. "Captain, status report."

Even her voice sounded perfect in Wilson's mind. He was smitten and he had no doubt many of the other men in the army were as well.

"Commander," the Captain smartly saluted. "We have taken Twenty five percent causalities so far, and more than a third of our siege weaponry has been destroyed."

The Angel turned to look at the facilities and back at the men who were starting to gather behind the Captain with an impassive face. "We need to take this facility, no matter the cost. You realize this?"

"We are ready, we all are." the Captain responded, and the men behind him grumbled in kind. They had been fighting for the better part of the day. They were tired, exhausted, ragged, and dirty, but they had to do this. Over four hundred thousand had landed with them, only three hundred thousand remained, and more were dying as they spoke. They had to end this now or else the lives lost would be meaningless.

The Angel looked at the soldiers with soft compassionate eyes before closing them. "Then ready yourselves, for this will be for your very freedom."

"HUA!" The Army shouted as the Angel flew up and over the facility's walls.

"MEN! You don't quit unless you are dead!" the Captain shouted over their shared comms and heard a roar of approval in kind.

As one, the Free People Army charged through the facilities, even as the anti-air defenses started to turn on the ground group, killing many instantly.

"Never surrender!" the rally cry went up as their artillery strikes and siege weaponry fired at the defensive tower.

Wilson was the first to rush inside after the Angel, and could hear the sounds of battle waging through the halls even as he took aim at the worker Sentinels.

"Intruders, Flatscans and Mutants, Eliminate!"

"Die!" Wilson roared with hatred as he continuously fired at the hated machines.

More and more soldiers poured in behind them and began firing into the machines. The machines returned fire as best as they could as the Free People finally flooded the hated stronghold of their enemy.

Wilson charged in, peeking behind every corner at every corridor, his squad mates falling behind him but still he survived. He was wondering if he was skilled or just lucky when a Sentinel beam missed him by a narrow margin. He spotted the attacker and turned his weaponry towards it, blowing its head clear off.

"Scales coming this way!"

Turning to find the enemy, he barely dodged an attack of flames made by the oncoming Sentinels. These Sentinels, the black scaly ones, were different. They had Gifted powers. Already some of them had turned into diamond form and were wading through the ranks of the soldiers. Diamond was still one of the hardest substances on earth. Some of them turned into metal, while others had their faceplates opened up and were firing red solar energy at his squad, killing many soldiers instantly.

"Concentrate your fire!" Wilson shouted as he leveled his gun and fired missile after missile at the machines. His new squad mates did the same, taking a few of the Scales down.

"These are supposed to be fucking old models damn it!" The Captain yelled harshly as his soldiers' surge was one more blunted by the Sentinels. Some of the Sentinels were turning into ice and freezing the soldiers, while others had turned their hands into metal claws and sliced through the weaker power suits.

"We're getting slaughtered in here Captain!" a panicky soldier shouted as he saw more of his friends get killed by the damn Scales.

"Not if I can help it!" A female voice spoke aloud.

Suddenly a large figure rushed past the soldiers and slammed into a few of the scaled Sentinels. The female in question was wearing a dome helmet. Her figure wasn't as attractive as the Angel; she was more muscular and had few feminine curves. No sooner had she done that than other Gifted followed her in, some had water-based bodies, while others were various shades of color.

"Juggernaut! Wait for us!" A male whose face appeared inhuman with fur shouted at his female companion. Turning to the soldiers, he gave them all a smile. "Leave these Sentinels to us, go! Help the Commander shut down this damn facility!"

"Aye Aye!" the Captain, who had taken a moment to watch more and more Gifted stream in to battle the Scales, acknowledged. "We won't fail!"

"I should hope not! Take Techno with you, he's good with machines, and can help shut down this place faster." The furry leader ordered as a black boy who had machinery showing over parts of his face walked up to the Captain.

"If your name means what I think it does, then I'm glad to have you with us," The Captain greeted the Gifted. Immediately, he ordered a security detail for the kid.

"For the Free People!" the furry mutant shouted as he let loose a bestial roar before smashing into the Scaled Sentinels.

"This one has diamond skin!" One of the larger Rock Gifted shouted, as he had been slugging back and forth between it, neither side winning.

"I got it!" A young man shouted as he ran toward the diamond Sentinel. What happened next was nearly unbelievable, as with but a single touch of the man's finger, the Sentinel's arm exploded, exposing its interior.

Wilson took aim at the opening and fired directly into it, the outer shell was diamond but the inside was still just machine parts. The Sentinel blew up immediately, sending many of the Gifted smashing all over the corridor.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" the Captain shouted but made a motion for some of the squad to stay behind and lay down covering fire for the Gifted Battalion.

Wilson was the point man for Techno's group as they battled deeper into the facility. Along with the guard details of the normals, Techno was protected by four of the Gifted. One with telekinetic power, one with fire-type powers, one with energy dispersion and the final looked like a fighter type.

"Wait!" Techno shouted as he looked around and closed his eyes. His head whipped back and forth, as if looking past the corridor walls. A moment later, he opened his eyes with clear alarm in them. "The Sentinels are up to something, they are diverting a huge amount of power to a specialized room two klicks west of here."

"So? We need to shut down the facility, the more power they drain the better!" The energy wielder spat as the group took a reprieve.

However, Techno face looked even more worried. "That's the thing, the amount of power I feel them channeling is going to shut down the entire facility for us. Why would they do that?"

Wilson and many of the soldiers felt uncomfortable. Their enemies were going to do something they wanted? "How much further is the power plant area?"

"Two kilometers." Techno answered.

"Captain..." Wilson prodded his commanding officer for a decision.

"God damn it, the Machines never do something without a good reason," the Captain spat. "They have a plan and I'll be damned if I let them complete it, we go to this specialized room."

"Yes, Sir!" The soldiers shouted as they started to fight their way toward the western room. Meanwhile, the Captain was updating his superiors about the change in plans.

"Sentinel Andro-" A soldier shouted in alarm before his head was sliced clean off.

Wilson and the Gifted immediately began firing in the Androids' direction. Unlike other Sentinels, the Android class was designed to mimics the top tier fighters. Their cores were not strong, and their bodies were genderless, but they had specialized moves that could wreak havoc just like the Scales could. Unlike the hunter, the skin of these Sentinels was mixed with a small amount of adamantium.

"Protect the kid!" the Captain ordered as his soldiers got in front and fired at the Android Sentinels. To his frustration, they evaded his attacks with ease and sent even more air blades at his soldiers. Cutting several cleanly in half.

Techno's eyes locked onto an android and held out his hand. Immediately, the android in question jerked as if frozen. Data numbers flitted across the black boy's eyes before the Android he had held in place began turning on its fellow machines.

"Don't target the one that's not attacking us," the Captain ordered, seeing as how the boy appeared to be in command of one of the androids.

With years of practice, the soldiers fired upon the other androids. With the addition of an android on their side, they were eventually able to destroy all of the threat.

"Go!" the Captain shouted as more of his remaining squad moved down the corridor into a large chamber. Upon their entry, a large surge of energy condensed in the center of the room and winked out. The entire facility structure cut off immediately, leaving them in the dark.

For a few moments they could only see due to their battle suits, before light flooded the room as the backup generators for the facility kicked in.

"What the hell was that?!" the Gifted energy user shouted as everyone remained on alert for anymore signs of attack.

"What happened? Report Captain," the Angel demanded as she strode into the room with the two staves in her hands.

"Commander!" the Captain greeted but remained on alert just in case. The Angel took a look around the room and did not seem worried.

"Commander, Techno is trying to find out now," the Gifted Fighter answered his direct superior.

Techno had placed his hand on one of the mainframes in the room. His eyes once more lit up with data language before he released it, his eyes widened in horror.

"What is it Techno?" the Angel asked in concern.

"They... they knew they lost," Techno whispered softly. "They had calculated our victory as inevitable twenty five years ago..."

"What?" Wilson spoke up out of turn before backing down, looked contrite.

"They have been trying to build a temporal device all this time to counter our inevitable victory... they just finished today," Techno looked over at the machine in the middle of the room with something akin to respect.

"You're telling me they built a time machine?" the Captain asked incredulously.

"Yes, Sir," Techno replied. "They planned to travel back far enough to kill the High General in his infancy."

The Angel's green eyes widened in shock and looked at Techno. "They... they're using the Terminator plot to kill the High General?!"

Everyone in the room gave the Angel an odd look. It was the Captain that spoke up first.

"Terminator... plot?"

The Commander suddenly blushed, some might even say prettily, at her outburst. "You know, the movie with the machine going back in time to kill the leader of humanity!"

"Movie?" Wilson asked in confusion. What was a movie? In any case, his commander seemed to be more concerned with the situation at hand, which was the Sentinels' plot to kill the High General.

"Which unit did they send back in time to kill the High General?" the Angel asked looking at the Tech Gifted.

Techno gulped and answered. "It was the X Omega-class Sentinel, sir..."

Everyone's' eyes widened at that. The X Omega-class Sentinel was rare, made to sow chaos among the ground forces, despite its relatively low firepower by high end Sentinels. Its destructiveness came from its durability and unending power source, being completely made of adamantium. There also weren't supposed to be any left, the High General had seen to that.

It was then an alarm blared out.

_**"POWER PLANT OVERLOAD, BASE DESTRUCTION IN T-MINUS FIVE MINUTES!"**_

Everyone looked up in alarm as the base echoed with the Sentinel voiced announcement.

"Can we send someone else back?" the Angel asked, her eyes giving out a worried gaze.

"Yes, they calculated the energy needs wrong, hoping to shut down the base with it, however they overloaded the power core and it is now expanding at an exponential rate. I can use that energy and send only one person back before that platform burns out," Techno replied.

The Angel looked over to Pulse, the Energy Gifted. "Do it. Send me back."

"Yes, Ma'am," Techno nodded and moved over to the mainframe. "Stand in the center of that platform and prepare yourself. I can send you back in fifteen seconds."

"Okay," the winged beauty nodded as she looked to the Captain. "I already ordered a full retreat, take your men and get out of here now. I also entrust you with these two staves to give to the High General."

"Yes, Commander!" The Captain saluted and took the staves reverently. He looked over to the black boy and waited for Techno to finish his interface with the mainframe.

"Okay Commander, you're good to go." Techno nodded and heard startled gasps behind him. Turning around he had to cover his nose at the vision of loveliness before him. His Commander, their Commander, the Angel, was discarding her clothes and had just finished discarding a red lace pair of panties before she stood in the center of the platform. "Why are you naked?!"

"Huh? Don't I have to be naked for time travel to work?" The winged woman asked as she felt the energy all around her begin to hum to life.

Techno gaped and saw his beautiful Commander completely nude, looking at him with such an adorable puzzled expression. The time machine began to glow even brighter as energy coalesced all around its occupant. "N-No! Not at all! You could have brought your weapons too!"

The winged woman looked stunned as the energy began to close in on her at a quick pace.

"But...that's not how the Terminator went..."

*** Present Day, Jersey Shore ***

"And blue team wins!" Strong Guy declared proudly, wearing an oversized pair of swimming trunks.

"Hell yeah! Up high, Ranma!" Evan shouted as he went to high-five his team mate, the incredibly sexy redhead in a one-piece with the world 'BOY' emblazoned across her very impressive chest. He was immediately pushed aside by two of his friends as they too tried to high-five their boy-turned-girl teammate.

Unfortunately, the boy-turned-girl had already turned around and slung her arm around Beak's neck, talking with him excitedly.

"Damn Beak, maybe those wings of yours ain't just for show after all!" Ranma congratulated her roommate. Her face flushed with the thrill of victory and her smile was so wide it almost split her face open. She just didn't realize it made the shy bird boy incredibly nervous.

"S-a-I-that is, th-thank y-ou Ranma," Beak stuttered as he tried to think of anything but the current situation caused by his roommate, who was very closely showing him her – his curse to turn into a girl. He was very self-conscious of her, even though she professed to be a boy at heart...but why would a boy dress in something so sexy?

Ranma turned around and saw her other three teammates had crumpled into a heap on the sand. After sweating a bit at the scene she decided to make her way back to the Xavier's student shaded area.

"Ranma, how the hell can you be so shameless?" Ryoga berated his rival in an accusing tone.

Ranma raised her eyebrow and took one of the coconut halves in her hand, sipping from it daintily. Ever since she got back from that robot factory, two months ago, Ryoga had been nicer. It had unsettled her at first, but whatever happened to him down there changed him. He no longer spouted about seeing hell, because according to him he had now seen true hell. Still, Ranma couldn't let that comment slide.

"What's a matter, big boy, seeing me like this making you all excited?"

As if to emphasize the point, Ranma took a page from Shampoo's book and did a supermodel stretch, jutting her chest out, causing the boy to blush and turn away. Next to the rock-boy was Claire, aka Blink, who shot a glare at Ranma before turning to whisper softly into Ryoga's ear.

Since Ryoga returned, the girl had been constantly at his side, blaming herself for him being tortured so. In Ranma's eyes, with the way the girl was sticking by Ryoga and only looking to him, they might as well declare themselves a couple.

Going over to grab her towel, Ranma lied down on her back to observe her surroundings. Lazily sipping her juice from the coconut shell itself, she said a silent thanks to Storm for the clear day. The water was a deep dark blue as the Xaiver students enjoyed their little beach trip after mid-terms.

"Daddy!"

Ranma groaned but sat up and looked over at the happy winged boy who had been making sand castles with the other, human children. The boy was pointing over to her and waving enthusiastically, the children with him looked a bit surprised but waved also. Ranma, not wanting to be rude, waved back. Surprisingly enough, when asked why most people on the beach weren't freaked out by all the mutants, the only replied she received was. "Hey, it's Jersey." As if that explained anything.

After closing her eyes for a few minutes, she felt a shadow cast over her. Opening her eyes she recognized it belonged to one of the Cuckoos. In particular, Celeste.

"Hey Celeste," Ranma greeted lazily as the girl had set up her towel to his left. Of course next to her were two more matching towels.

"You... played a game of volleyball with the boys." Celeste accused, even as her two sisters arrived with Myst in tow. The three girls had matching blue swimsuits that exposed a lot of their pale skin while Myst wore a big straw hat somehow, along with a mono-color one piece bathing suit.

"So?" Ranma shrugged, enjoying the shade as she sipped more of her coconut drink.

"Do you know that they were ogling you the whole time, with the way you were moving around with... those?" Celeste motioned to Ranma's breasts while her two sisters nodded their heads in agreement.

"So? Ain't my problem they're pervs," Ranma replied easily, then looked down at her chest. "Ain't my fault I'm stacked like this either. I wish I could be flatter like you girls, or maybe even Myst. It's a pain to move with these, that's for sure."

The three girls were taken aback and looked down at their own modest-sized chests and back at Ranma's enviously. For a boy to have such amazing breasts was criminal. After a quick Hive mind meeting, Celeste glared at Ranma while the other two folded their arms behind her.

"We have decided," Celeste began glaring harder. "We hate you."

"Bitch." Myst agreed as she enviously eyed Ranma's breasts.

"Love you guys too," Ranma grinned and rolled onto her front, showing off her perfectly pert bottom. "Wake me up in a bit would ya?"

And just like that the pigtailed girl closed her eyes and fell asleep quicker than most would think possible. The girls began to chat among themselves, mostly using the hive mind. Myst, not wanting to evaporate, stayed in the shade closer to the coolers to take the excess moisture and read a book.

+++Later+++

"Ranma."

There was a soft poke at the pigtailed girl's cheek. Waking up, she saw that it was Jean in a risqué green bikini crouching near her. Blinking her eyes blearily, she woke up and noticed that there seemed to be sand all around her. Turning her head a bit, she gaped at the scale of the sand castle that had been built on top her.

"The girls encouraged Saffron to build the sandcastle on top of you. Evidently, you didn't view them as a threat," Jean giggled while looking at the boy-turned-girl's expression of disbelief. "You said you could avoid harmful intent, so I'm sure it was all done in good fun."

"Ugh, those girls, where are they anyway?" Ranma asked, turning to his right to see a condensed cloud lazily hanging in midair. "Oh, Myst's taking a nap too."

"Out breaking boys' hearts, last I checked." Jean answered as she took a seat next to Ranma, gazing out into the sea.

"And Saffron?"

Jean looked at Ranma and back to the sea. "With Kiima, but she figured she shouldn't be near you in her current... form."

Ranma narrowed her eyes and grudgingly admitted it was smart thinking on Kiima's part. That form of hers was a reminder that she had tried to kill Akane. "Well, tell her to avoid the tomboy too... you know murderer and murder victim."

Jean sighed at the unkind tone in Ranma's voice, but what could she say, her secretary did try to kill Ranma's ex-fiancée. "Well, the girls and I planned on getting some ice cream after this, maybe going shopping. You wouldn't happen to be interested in a girls' night out, would you?"

Ranma paled at the thought. "No, no thank you, going straight back to the dormitory and not for all the ice cream in the world would I join you. Screw shopping."

Grinning, Jean raised an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a no? The girls will be so disappointed."

"I'm sure they'll get over it," Ranma said with an arched eyebrow. "I don't fancy being anyone's dress-up doll."

"Drat," Jean pouted as a smile danced on her lips. "You've seen through our true objective. How often can we say we helped a boy dress up and look good?!"

"Ain't happening, no way no how!" Ranma shouted back, a bit miffed. Girls and shopping.

"It's funny that you can pick something stylish yet sexy for your girl form, yet when it comes to your guy form you choose ugly outfits," Jean teased the sand-trapped girl.

"Ugh! Come on, the orange shirt wasn't that bad!" Ranma protested. "And the green shirt was not ugly!"

"It belonged on an old man!" Jean fired back at the fashion disaster that was Ranma's male form. Surprisingly, if she superimposed those outfits on Ranma's girl form it would work better.

"Well, I appreciate the red shirt and black khakis you got me," Ranma replied after moment. "Could have done without the bird boxers though."

"Aww, but it was so cute. I even got Saffron a matching pair," Jean's emerald eyes lit up. "Like father, like son."

"He ain't my son!" Ranma immediately replied with a huff. Then she proceeded to grumble under her breath about pain in the ass Phoenixes. Jean only reply was that soft smirk on her lips. Well two can play at that game.

"So... you and Wolverine dating yet?"

Jean, who had been drinking some cola, spit it out, looking at Ranma wide eyed. Now the other girl had a teasing grin on her lips.

"Logan and I are just good friends!"

"Uh huh," Ranma answered in a tone that said she clearly didn't believe Jean. "Right, and I only have one fiancée. Anyone can see that he has a thing for you. Even Ryoga! And that guy is denser than a rock about Claire!"

Jean blushed a bit as her mind turned to the wild man of the X-Men. The one that she found herself highly attracted to, even when she had been with Scott. Glaring at Ranma, she now became flustered. "Hey, I don't think you're exactly in a position to give relationship advice you know."

Ranma only grinned wider in response. "Heh, you've got a guy who's been eyeing you like how Ryoga used to eye Akane, and you're telling me you don't notice it? Maybe I should get a new therapist." She finished off her sentence by sticking her tongue out at the other redhead.

The normally unflappable Jean could only blush in embarrassment. Was it that obvious that Logan was into her? There had always been tension between her and Logan, and there might have been some indiscretion here and there, but nothing more than kissing had happened. She just wasn't ready for anything yet and hoped that Logan would understand. It didn't help that Logan seemed to be insanely jealous of her relationship with Ranma now. Especially given Saffron's immense dislike for the X-Man in question.

Letting the banter fall off, the two remained in a comfortable silence as a happy Saffron came running back with a huge stick of cotton candy in his hand.

"Daddy! Mommy!"

Jean immediately greeted her 'son' with a soft smile while Ranma looked on in chagrin. Jean was all but convinced that Ranma had accepted Saffron on some level. It was just that he would usually overreact to anything he was not comfortable with. Taking her 'son' into her arms, she rested her chin on his head as he babbled on about where Kiima had taken him.

"Oh Daddy! Do you like my castle? Celeste said that we should have made it higher, but Phoebe said no."

Ranma sweated a bit, but looked at her 'son'. "It's... fine."

"Yay! Celeste said you'd love it!"

"Yeah... I bet she did," Ranma grumbled in a dark tone of voice. Looking at the kid she saw him happily munching away at the cotton candy. He looked to the child Phoenix's 'mother'. "So, who's gonna babysit him when you girls go shopping?"

Jean turned to look at Ranma with a smile that made him gulp audibly.

*** In Transit ***

Ranma's eye twitched as she remained in her girl form so that Saffron could use her breasts as a pillow. It wasn't exactly planned, but it just happened that way. The boys, chaperoned by the elder men, were making their way back to the Xavier Institute, while the girls were going to downtown Manhattan. Surprisingly enough, Ryoga was taken along with, mainly because Claire was adamant about not letting him out of her sight. Worse than a mother hen that girl, but then again, Ranma could understand why the girl was worried.

"I think the Cuckoos' bikinis were the hottest."

"No way, gotta be Veronica's black two-piece! What was that made out, of floss?"

"Pfft! You wanted to see a floss bikini, did you see Ms. Frost? It was nothing but floss all over the damn place!"

"Oh yeah I saw. Shit, I think everyone saw!"

"Surprised Wildchyld didn't just hump her legs."

"What about Ms. Grey, did you see that green two piece! Damn I want me some of that hot Phoenix!"

"Shhh! Dude! Ranma's here!"

Ranma glared at the boy who made that comment, who was a bit on the heavyset side. His mutation was almost like that of the Blob. Under her withering glare, the boys whispered even lower.

"I'm really surprised you didn't have a problem wearing that swimsuit." Evan said, seated next to Ranma.

"Pfff, what? I'm gonna let this damn curse stop me from taking a swim?" Ranma scoffed, before she turned to see Beak sleeping in the seat behind her. "You guys aren't gonna weird out on me, are ya?"

Evan, who was now in his regular street clothes, waved his hand. "No, no, not at all. Still, you do make a good redhead, it's really a pity you aren't a girl."

Ranma kicked her friend's leg and saw him wince. "Yeah, that's what you get. I am always, positively, forever, 100% guy even if I do have this stupid curse."

"Hah," Evan laughed as he rubbed the sore spot on his leg. "Too bad most of school believes it's your mutation."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Yeah, uh huh, shape shifting is such an awesome ability. If it is a mutation, it's a shit one."

"Hey! I'll have you know Mystique is considered very dangerous because she's a shape shifter," Evan replied, and saw Ranma's confused expression. "She's with Magneto's brotherhood. Let's just say she can double as anyone and cause havoc."

"How?" Ranma asked, curious. If it's wasn't an offensive powered mutation, then it wasn't worth it in Ranma's eyes.

Evan looked at his friend and saw that he really didn't see how shape shifting could be so dangerous. "Imagine if you can train yourself to be such a perfect shape shifter that you can impersonate the President, right down to the thumb print. Now imagine if you were evil and could order the U.S military to attack anybody you wanted."

Ranma blinked, as she had never thought about it that way. "So it's mostly a useful mutation if people can be fooled..."

"Well yeah! Only Wolverine and feral type of mutants can spot a shape shifter and only if they're familiar enough with their scent."

"Or can pick up their Ki signature." Ranma added, as everyone had a distinctive signature and can't be so easily fooled.

"... Right, that." Evan replied, confused, but before he could say anything else he saw Ranma's eyes narrowed at something out the window. "What is it?"

"Thought I saw somet- there it is again!" Ranma pressed her face closer to the window. She had noticed it earlier, thinking it was the sunlight glinting through the trees, but there appeared to be something in the woods. Tailing them.

"What is it?" Evan asked, also concerned, having learned to trust Ranma's instincts. He looked out of the window and tried to focus really hard. It was then he saw it, a flash of silver in passing within the forest. "I'm going to get one of the Professors."

Ranma nodded, but she had an ominous feeling. Something was tailing them, and worse, she couldn't tell what it was. There was no Ki signature.

A moment later, Sam Guthrie, her homeroom teacher, arrived in the back of the bus. The mutant known as Cannonball had a healthy dose of respect for the pigtailed bo-... well... girl now, after what had happened with the out of control Saffron and the Sentinel Factory. If the boy/girl said she saw something, then he would damn well listen.

"What is it Ranma?"

Ranma's eyes narrowed some more, tracking the thing in the forest. It was too off. "I dunno, but there is something or someone following us."

"You sure on that?" Sam said, looking at the girl's deep blue eyes with his own. Seeing her nod, he went back to the front of the bus to let Sunspot know of Ranma's concern.

"Be careful," Bobby Costa, aka Sunspot, told his friend while tensing up in case it was anything serious.

Cannonball opened the coach bus and jumped outside, immediately taking flight and rocketing toward the forest.

Ranma watched with interest as her homeroom teacher flew off. The ability to fly fast was just awesome, in her opinion, and the way her teacher seemed to be doing it was by generating some kind of protective field around him. He could also literally smash into people just like his codename, a cannonball. She wondered if she could do something similar with Ki. After all, Herb could fly...

Evan was also keeping an eye out with his friend. If Ranma felt that something odd was going on, Evan would do well to consider it.

It was then Ranma spotted the silver glint again and widened her eyes in alarm. "Teach! Stop the bus! NOW!"

Bobby Costa's well-honed instincts made him follow the order and step on the breaks, only to find out that it was too late as an figure appeared in front of the vehicle. Whatever the thing was, it was like smashing into a thick concrete wall. The students were tossed all over the place in the collision.

Ranma instinctively held a startled Saffron protectively to her and curled up into a ball to take the brunt of the impact. With her quick speed, she was able to keep a startled Beak and an out of control Evan from being slammed into the bus roof as the vehicle overturned.

The moment the collision stopped, Ranma looked toward the front and saw their driver dizzy from the impact, possibly concussed. It was the other figure that concerned Ranma. It was a machine, a cannon jutting out of its right hand, with openings all over its body, possibly for venting. Its left hand was morphed into a whole set of guns. And it was aiming all of that in her direction.

"Crap."

Thankfully, just as the guns were about to fire, Cannonball returned and smashed into the robot, sending the two flying off into the forest.

"Double crap," Ranma commented. Looking down at her 'son,' she rubbed his head to let him know that everything was okay. "Have you forgotten? I'm here."

Saffron smiled and nodded to Ranma, trusting her words.

"Evan, Beak, you guys alright?"

Evan groaned in reply, but was slowly reorienting himself. Beak groggily shook his head and came to just in time to nod at Ranma.

"Good, I'll check on the others." Ranma responded as she held Saffron protectively to herself and started to see to the injuries of her peers. Most of it was minor bruising, nothing too serious. Then she saw some of the buses in front had stopped. She made out Wolverine, Hank, and Strong Guy making their way hurriedly over to them.

"What happened, kid?" Wolverine growled out as he sliced open the side of the bus to start extraction the kids. Hank was already tending to Sunspot while Strong Guy was carried a few unconscious boys with him to the other bus.

"We gotta get out of here; I think it's those robots again." Ranma said hurriedly, her senses alert and looking around for an attack from any angle. "Mr. Guthrie smashed into that thing and went that way."

Wolverine and Hank looked stunned for a moment before their expressions turned dark. "Then we'd better get a move on. Come on; help us get a few guys out."

"Sure, lemme get Saffron to the other bus first." Ranma said as she made her way to one of the undamaged busses. She saw the boys from school looking out at the scene worriedly from the windows. However the moment she was out in the open, she noticed a light gleaming from the edge of her vision, forcing her to quickly duck to the ground.

A moment later, a yellow beam passed over Ranma's head and made a hole in the road they were on.

"Kid!" Wolverine shouted in alarm as he turned to the trees, his claws popping out and his nose already searching for the robot even as more beams were fired at the kid. He immediately rushed into the forest to stop the attacker. Permanently.

As soon as Ranma dodged the first attack, she knew a second and third was coming and continued to roll with Saffron in her arms, each beam narrowly missing her. She couldn't take cover behind the bus because the students were in there, and the bus didn't appear to be strong enough to take a hit. She wouldn't be responsible for their deaths. Of course now she had Saffron in her arms and couldn't let the frightened boy go either.

'Crap! Crap! Crap! Think Ranma!' She thought to herself as she got to her feet and ran away from the scene of the attack. Sure enough, several more beams narrowly missed her even as Saffron shook in her arms like a panicky bird.

Even deep in the forest, the beams continuously fired in her direction with great accuracy, making her wince from the exploding tree bark two feet next to her. Had she not zigged at the last moment she would have been hit. She then saw a red beam fired from the bus area and knew that it was Mr. Summers attacking their robot adversary.

'Dumbasses! Get the other students out of here!' Ranma viciously thought to the teachers, but relented as she knew that they too were only trying to do what was right. Besides, these were the X-Men, they wouldn't fall easy.

She heard the clang of metal on metal for a couple of moments and gritted her teeth. If she didn't have to take care of Saffron, she would be in the thick of the fray already.

Ranma turned around only to see the robot with its weapon out and already firing toward her, a bloodied Sam Guthrie chasing it. Unfortunately, the robot was faster as it smashed into Ranma with great force, sending her flying through some trees. The split-second it took for that attack was all Cannonball needed as he smashed into the robot with his own concussive force to send it flying in another direction.

"Ranma!" Sam said in alarm, but was relieved to see the pigtailed girl relatively unharmed. "We need to get you out of here! It completely ignored the rest of us, it wants you!"

No sooner had Sam warned her than several dozen missiles fired into him, sending Cannonball wounded into a tree.

"Mr. Guthrie!" Ranma said looking after her teacher before turning to the robot. "Alright, no more Mr. Nice Guy!"

With a swipe of her arm, the vacuum blade flew and smashed into the robot, sending it flying away.

Not cut in half.

"What the hell?" Ranma muttered, as her vacuum blade was the sharpest attack in her arsenal. Still, at least the machine was knocked back. Grabbing her homeroom teacher, she slung him over her shoulder and headed back in the direction of the buses.

As she cleared the forest, Ranma saw that her overturned bus was cleared of students. Several of the buses had already driven off as well. A good move in Ranma's opinion.

"Kid," Wolverine said in relief after spotting her with Jean's kid and Sam. "Get in the bus quickly, we'll hold it off!"

"Yeah no, that thing is after me. I get on that bus, it's a death sentence for everyone on it," Ranma pointed out to Wolverine, who could only glowered at being defied. "Look it's for the best. Here, take Saffron and go, I can travel faster without having to worry about other people."

"Kid..." Wolverine replied, not liking it even as he handed Sam over to Hank to look after. It was then he smelled the metal being closing in fast. To his surprise, Ranma reacted first and shoved him away, pushing the little bird boy into his arms just as the newest Sentinel cleared the forest and slammed directly into the girl.

Ranma heard Wolverine curse, but now that she was unburdened by Saffron she could fight. Twisting in the robot's arms, she punched its face with all her strength, only to find that it still maintained a death grip on her. She realized that the robot thing must not be able to fly as it landed on the ground on top of her. Straining her muscles, she was able to pry the robot's arm off slightly to enable herself to slip out quickly.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Ranma demanded of the robot. Her reply, however, came from an unexpected source.

"Death." an unknown voice answered from above them.

Immediately, a condensed ball of fire smashed into the robot and sent it flying away.

Ranma and Wolverine looked up in the sky to see a beautiful, naked, winged mutant slowly hovering down to the ground. Her eyes were on the machine that had just attacked them.

"But I am not going to let that happen." The winged mutant spoke up as the robot gunned straight for Ranma, only to be met by her.

Ranma was taken aback by the skill the naked girl had shown for a variety of reasons. One, the girl was good, very good, as the machine was being pushed back on every front. Two, the machine didn't seem to have a single dent on it. But it was the third thing she realized that made her jaw drop in shock. The girl knew Art of Anything Goes. Not just any Anything Goes, she knew the Saotome style.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" The Winged girl shouted as her fingers touched a part of the robot's chest area.

To Ranma's surprise, the robot's chassis cracked instead of exploding like normal. Still, it was able to land a powerful punch on the winged girl, who looked stunned from the hit. Well, that was all the incentive Ranma needed to rejoin the fight as she leapt in front of the stunned winged girl and unleashed a full force Amiguriken on the cracked area.

That seemed to have done the trick as the robot's hairline fracture got noticeably larger. The winged girl had recovered and touched the robot's arm this time, making hairline fractures there. Between the winged girl and Ranma, they appeared to be too much for the robot as it decided to use its rocket boosters to fly back into the forest. The sound of trees breaking further and further away let them know that they were out of danger, for now.

"Okay, who are you and how do you know the Saotome style?" Ranma turned on the winged girl, who was still naked and giving Ranma a serious look.

"Come with me if you want to live." The winged girl told the shorter pigtailed girl in a grave tone with her hand outstretched.

There was a moment of silence as pigtailed girl stared at the winged girl's outstretched hand. It tickled at her memory, something Myst shown her recently. Her expression became confused as she realized exactly where she'd heard that line and seen that body posture before.

Wolverine, who remembered that movie as well, also looked at the girl while Saffron bit his arms to be released. He ignored it.

"Are you... trying to act out the Terminator scene?" Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow.

The naked woman, who had up till now looked every inch the warrior, bashfully put her hand behind her head in a very familiar manner and grinned in embarrassment. "Heh heh heh... sorry... couldn't resist!"

Wolverine face faulted, a skill he picked up in Japan, at the woman's admission.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked looking at the girl. "And why are you naked?!"

"Well... I found out too late that you didn't need to be naked to travel through time..." The winged woman replied, blushing in embarrassment.

"You don't?" Ranma asked in surprise. "Well... that's good to know, so you're from the future, huh?"

The winged woman looked disappointed at Ranma's nonchalance. "You mean to tell me you're not surprised that I came from the future?"

"Nah," Ranma waved it off. "We got three of those guys running around... well, maybe four if you count Nate Grey..."

"Nobody counts Nate Grey." Wolverine chimed in, feeling a headache growing. Just what he needed. MORE future bullshit. He noticed that the baby bird was still biting down on his hand and tossed the runt unceremoniously to the ground.

"Aww!" The naked woman suddenly pouted, completely ruining their earlier impression of her as a hardened warrior. "You suck!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard that before." Ranma shrugged as she looked the woman up and down. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar. "You wouldn't happen to be a descendant of some rich guy named Warren Worthington III would you?"

"No way, his lineage sucks," The winged woman said immediately. "My lineage is much more awesome!"

"... and that would be?" Ranma prompted.

The winged woman coughed politely into her hand and took on a very formal stance before bowing.

"I'm Fyro Grey-Saotome. Sorry about this, Grandpa."

TBC...

AN: And that ladies and gentlemen, we are now at the HALFway point of this story. The 'Days of the Future Past' arc, as I like to call it is the mid way point before the final two arcs. Of course, It could turn into three arcs if I feel like it depending on how the ending for this arc goes. I am still on the fence about it. So I will see!

Anyway, the reason for this arc is because... COME ON! What X-Men run wouldn't have a future Arc? Right?! Right?! I also made obvious reference to Terminator because that is exactly what Days of The Future past was a homage about. However I decide to throw in the Ranma flavor :P Hopefully it comes out well.

So quick note. Wilson is a descendant of Falcon. Fyro is an OC but if you can connect the dots than you'd figure it out. I made the natural progression of Myst Power and, Obligatory BEACH SCENE! Androids Sentinel is a homage to DBZ androids, Scales are the one form the days of the future past movie itself. Bigger sentinels and other type are from the comics.

Thanks to everyone how reviewed, appreciate the comment and feed back both good and negative. :D

Special thanks to Cheeser who last chapter would probably be this one with me because of a busy life schedule! ;_; I shall see you again in April and good luck on your project!


	11. Broken Future: Part Two

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

Special thanks to Mingyu and Death for working on this despite their busy schedule!

Homo Superior

Broken Future: Part Two

*** 21XX, Sentinel Facility ***

John Wilson and his squad slowly entered the dark facility. Dozens of soldiers fanned out on either side. The only visible light came from the white lights on their suits.

"Clear!" the Captain delcared as the Gifted arrived, looking around to make sure there were no more Sentinel attackers.

The facilities should have been destroyed, but the Gifted known as Atom siphoned the energy and redirected it toward the sky at the cost of his own life. Now they were under orders to see if anything remained or was salvageable from the temporal machines.

"Everything's dead," Techno sighed as he placed his hands on one of the panels and got zero readout from it.

"It's the Commander's clothes sir," one of female soldiers pointed to the discarded white clothes, leading to the burnt out platform. Some of the men glanced to the side and scrutinized two red lacy items, also discarded, with great interest, then hurriedly resumed their tasks.

Suddenly the room got foggy, and there was mist all over their HUD's. The soldiers looked around to find themselves surrounded by clouds.

"General Myst!" the Captain bellowed, and all the soldiers and Gifted immediately stood at respectful attention.

Part of the clouds started to condense, coalescing into a beautiful woman with long straight black hair and amethyst eyes. Putting her hands behind her back, she exuded authority as she surveyed all before her.

"At ease." Myst ordered and watched as they all took a relaxed stance. Smiling, she looked over to Techno. "There was something said about time travel?"

"Yes sir, General Myst sir!" Techno gulped at being addressed by the legendary mutant. "As I stated in my report, we were in this facility when I sensed power was being diverted to this room. Upon securing the room, I was able to ascertain that the Sentinels had built a time machine to send one Omega Class Sentinel to kill the High General in his infancy. The An- I mean, Commander Fyro followed it through soon after."

Myst nodded and looked at discarded clothes. "Just like the Terminator... but part one or two?" She murmured. If it was part three than they were well and truly fucked, since part three ended with everyone dying.

"Although I should note," Techno continued after a moment of silence following the General's odd statement. "For some inexplicable reason, the Commander felt the need to strip and did not bring any weapons with her."

Myst blinked and looked over to the computer savvy mutant. "She could have brought weapons back?"

"Yes sir, along with her clothes," Techno blushed a bit at remembering the nude form of the angel. "There really were no restrictions of what you could or couldn't bring with you."

"But... that's not how Ter...oh dear," Myst stopped in mid-musing as the implication struck her. "Fuck... the High General is NOT going to be happy about this..."

Suddenly everyone in the room got incredibly nervous. An unhappy High General was not a good thing.

*** Close to New York Borders ***

There was a bout of a silence as Wolverine and Ranma absorbed the winged girl's declaration. The naked bird girl was blinking at Ranma cutely, a small smile dancing on her lips. Her eyes seem to be scrutinizing the pigtailed girl's features.

Ranma returned the scrutiny in kind.

The abrupt standoff ended when a white blur shot into Ranma's arms, clutching onto her tightly. Much like a koala bear. "Daddy! Don't leave me with the smelly man again!" Saffron begged before turning to Wolverine and sticking his tongue out at the clawed mutant.

Wolverine glowered at the fake son of Jean. "Why you little piece of-"

"Father?!" the girl from the future, Fyro, gasped in surprised delight.

Much to Ranma's surprise, the girl speed was top notch, closing in on her before she could react and plucking Saffron off of her body.

"Wha-" Saffron's eyes widened in alarm as he finally took a good look at the woman who held him. There was something familiar about her that he couldn't quite place, but his instincts told him that she was safe.

"Father! It is you!" Fyro crowed happily before smashing the bird child to her bosom. "You are so adorable!"

Ranma and Wolverine facefaulted together this time, Ranma being the first one to recover. "Saffron's your father?"

"Of course!" Fryo answered as she continued to cuddle her father. "Where did you think I got my wings and fire power from?"

"There are plenty of winged mutants around," Ranma started to rebut but realized none of them actually had the power of fire like Saffron did. "Okay... I guess I believe you."

"Thanks Grandpa!" Fyro smiled as she hugged her father to her. "I knew you would!"

Wolverine was about to comment on the girl's bubbly personality when a magical portal opened up and revealed the battle ready Illyana, Jean Grey, Storm, Kitty Pryde, and Psylocke.

The X-Women's eyes, alert upon arrival, took in their surroundings even as Jean closed in on Ranma.

"Scott told us about the attack," Jean told Wolverine before she made out a new figure among them. "Something about a Sentinel?"

"The kid and the girl took care of it." Wolverine replied as he took out a cigar and started to smoke it to relieve some stress. "You're gonna love what you hear next."

"Clear," Psylocke shouted as she and Kitty Pryde had fanned out in opposite directions to ensure there were no incoming attacks. She had Storm maintain an aerial view, just in case.

Jean nodded in relief, but still maintained a wary alertness to her surroundings. Knowing they were safe for the moment, she homed in on the new woman. Judging by the wings and the white hair, plus the lack of modesty and how she was holding Saffron, she guessed that the girl was a Phoenix Tribe soldier.

"Ranma, are you alright?"

Ranma saw Jean's worried look, and glanced down at herself. She noted that her shirt was dirty, there was tears here and there, even bruises showing up on her arms. "Ah, it looks worse than it is."

Jean made a mental note to take care of Ranma in the medical wing before she telepathically gathered the girls closer. "Alright Illyana, get us out of here."

The blonde magical mutant just waved her sword and the entire area, ruined bus and all, was engulfed in fire briefly before they found themselves on Xavier school grounds.

"Okay then, if any Sentinels approach our perimeter for Ranma, we'll know." Jean exhaled with relief. Between Hank and Forge, the Xavier Institute's automatic defense was nothing to sneeze at.

"Ohh, the lost temple of Xavier!" Fyro gasped in awe as she stared at her surroundings. "The place of higher enlightment..."

"Lost Temple?" Jean asked, looking at the girl curiously. What was this girl talking about? She saw Saffron pry himself from the girl's arms and flew over to hug her.

"Mommy! That girl called Daddy Grandpa! Daddy's not Grandpa, he's Daddy!"

The X-Women, who had been examining at the damage to the bus, looked up and glanced over at the new girl.

"Her name is Fyro, she's from the future." Wolverine explained as he puffed on his cigar. "You know the drill by now."

The other X-Women shared a look a recognition and went back to assess the damage on their property. Storm went to report what had happened to the Professor, leaving the other girls behind.

"Wait, Saffron is your father?" Jean asked while looking at the winged girl, who she realized was completely naked with a very nice figure.

"Father called you mommy..." Fyro mused, looking at Jean with a puzzled expression on her face before her eyes widened. "Grandma?!"

After Rachel, Cable and Bishop, Jean knew how these time travel shenanigans worked by now. Still, while she felt that she was old enough to be a mother, she was way too young to be called a grandmother!

It was Ranma who looked at Fyro curiously now. "Whoa, time out, you recognize me in my cursed form but you didn't recognize your own Grandmother?"

"Ranma, if you call me Grandmother one more time..." Jean's eyes flashed fire briefly, making the pigtailed girl back up a bit.

That fire-in-her-eyes thing was freaky. Really freaky. "R-right, sorry." Ranma nervously laughed it off while rubbing the back of her neck.

Turning to look at her alleged 'granddaughter,' she had to make sure it was not a trap set by their enemies. "You realize I am going to have to read your mind to confirm your claim."

"What?!" Fryo cried out in alarm. "You mean I don't get to do the monologue about the future?!"

Ranma and Wolverine facefaulted again while Jean looked confused. "Monologue?" she asked looking at the girl.

"Yeah you know, I came from the future like Kyle Reese to prevent the death of my Grandfather, the Sarah Connor in this whole thing," Fryo explained looking a bit dejected. "I was ready to describe the bleak and dark future in case you didn't believe me, but you're going to spoil that by just reading my mind about it. where's the fun in that?!"

"I ain't no damn SARAH CONNOR!" Ranma shouted at the winged girl who only replied with a knowing smile.

Jean opened her mouth to say something, anything, but realized that unlike the others who had come from the future, this girl was apparently treating this like some movie. Still, looking at her sad expression, she could see hints of Saffron in her features. The girl might not be lying.

"Okay how about this, I'll read your mind after you tell us about the future."

"Yay!" Fyro's attitude did a complete one-eighty turn as she went up to hug her grandmother. "They always said you were the nicest one!"

"Who are 'they'?" Jean asked, a bit surprised by the affectionate hug from the girl. The girl had moved incredibly fast.

"Grandpa, Father, and General Myst." Fryo replied before breaking the hug. Her declaration sent shocked looks all around.

"Wait 'General' Myst?" Ranma asked, looking at the girl. Now she was interested in this future.

"Uh huh! She is also known as Death Fog." Fryo nodded proudly before looking at the other legendary X-Men.

"Ok, before we listen to your story, maybe you might want to put on some clothes before you catch a cold?" Wolverine chimed up, looking pointedly at the state of undress the girl was in.

"But I'm not cold, I can't get cold unless I am sparring with Grandpa." Fyro replied cutely before understanding shone in her eyes. "Oh I see! I'm making you aroused with my state of undress. I apologize, but I am afraid I... made the mistake of leaving my clothes behind."

Wolverine went a bit red in the face and lifted up a finger to correct the girl, before he thought better of it seeing a giggle from Jean. Turning to the love of his life, he pointed to her instead. "YOU get her dressed, then we'll meet in the main dining room. Saotome, I could use some help getting the undamaged luggage out of the damn bus."

"R-right," Ranma nodded as she left to help Wolverine, leaving the two women alone with one another.

Jean looked at the winged girl critically before nodding. "You're about my size, follow me."

The bird girl happily followed the person she claimed was her Grandmother.

++++ Dining Room+++

In the dining room, were the senior members of the X-Men: Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Kitty Pride, Hank McCoy, Forge, Colossus, Professor Xavier, and finally their own resident time traveler, Bishop. Sitting near Jean was a now male Ranma Saotome. Saffron had been handed off to Kiima and the Institute itself had been put on high alert.

Sitting on the opposite side was a fidgeting winged mutant who claimed to be from the future. Fyro was dressed in a simple t-shirt with black jeans. Thankfully, she wasn't the only winged mutant on campus and they were able to fabricate clothes for her easily enough.

"So, how would you prefer for us to address you Ms...?" Professor Xavier began kindly, looking at the girl. To his surprise, the girl had trouble meeting his eyes.

"Uh... F-Fyro is fine, oh Blessed Xavier." the winged mutant replied nervously, stealing glances at the old man.

The bird girl's reply stunned the room into silence. It was their oldest member that reacted first though.

"Hah! Chuck!" Wolverine laughed as he smacked his hand on the table. "You've been canonized!"

"Logan please," Professor Xavier's expression looked strained, he didn't need to be psychic to feel the amusement radiating from his students. He turned to look at the girl who still refused to meet his eyes. "Please, just... Professor Xavier would be fine, Fyro."

The girl in question shook a bit before nodding her head shyly. "If you say so, Blessed Professor Xavier..."

Cyclops and Wolverine had to turn away to keep the professor from seeing them laugh at his expense.

"Perhaps you would like to tell us about the future you come from?" Hank McCoy spoke up, realizing that the girl would have a harder time answering their apparently deified headmaster.

The girl looked up, and after seeing everyone's expression pouted. "So you really aren't too shocked by time travelers, huh..."

"Let's just say you wouldn't be the first." Hank answered kindly to the pretty girl. "How about I ask some simple questions and you can answer to the best of your abilities?"

Fryo took a moment to consider this and nodded. She really wanted to do her monologue, like Myst told her any good fighter from the future would do, but everything appeared to be going off script.

"Great!" Hank clapped his blue-furred hands together. "Let's start with what year you came from."

"I came from the year 2121," Fryo answered immediately, not needing any time to ponder the answer.

The other X-Men looked at one another and realized that was at least fifty years further than Bishop's own timeline. The time-displaced mutant looked at the girl with interest.

"And the reason why you came back to our time would be to protect Mr. Saotome over here?" Hank gestured to the pigtailed boy sitting next to Jean.

"Yep, if he dies now we lose the War." Fyro confirmed but not before shooting her grandfather a smile and sending him a confident wink.

Hank, Professor Xavier, Cyclops and Wolverine heard the way the girl seem to emphasize the word 'War.' "What is this... War you speak of, if you you'd be so kind?" Hank prompted the girl who seemed to be stealing glances at the pigtailed boy now.

"The War against the Sentinels of course!" Fyro answered, and saw the black man with the 'M' over his eye seem to fidget in his chair before speaking to her.

"So another war between mutants and sentinels broke out?" Bishop asked in disgust. Why must their future forever be plagued by war.

"Another?" Fyro asked, looking at the fellow time-displaced mutant.

"This is Bishop, he's a time traveler, like you, he came from the year 2070," Hank spoke up and gestured to the black mutant. "Where he came from, mutants and humans fought against the Sentinels and emerged victorious in the year 2050."

Fyro blinked at that information before turning to look at the time traveler. "Did you have to go back into the past and save someone too?"

Bishop shook his head at the girl's inquiry, his face took on a graver expression. "No, I was a security officer where I came from and we were pursuing a criminal, one thing lead to another and here I am. In my future, I was raised in a concentration camp, but freed when Summers' Rebellion united both humans and mutants to defeat the machines. I had thought, with the defeat of Onslaught and Bastion, my future would never come to pass."

Fyro cocked her head cutely at the mutant, her eyes furrowed as she absorbed the information. Looking at the legendary figures around her, she began her tale.

"The future I am from is not so lucky." Fryo began sadly. "According to General Myst, the War been going on since 2016."

Most of X-Men in the room sucked in sharp breaths of air, that was only two years from their place in the current timeline.

"You mean to tell me there had been a war with the Sentinels going on for over a hundred years?" Bishop asked, looking pale. The war that waged for forty years had been bad enough, a war that lasts an additional sixty years was too horrifying to think of.

"I came from what was to be our final battle," Fyro turned her green eyes on everyone in the room. "Under the High General's orders, we marched on to the final Sentinel base and destroyed the machines, no matter the cost..."

"And you were a soldier in this war?" Professor Xavier looked at the young woman with sympathy.

"I am a Commander in the Free People Army and led the 45th Gifted battalion, what you call mutants I guess," Fyro explained nervously to the living deity.

"Gifted..." Storm murmured, tasting the word on her lips. She found that she quite liked it as opposed to being called a mutant.

"So how does Mr. Saotome factor into this war?" Professor Xavier asked the question that was no doubt weighting on the pigtailed boy's mind.

Fyro turned to look at Ranma and gave him a beaming smile. "Because, Grandpa IS the High General of the Free People Army."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Ranma with shocked expressions, some even had respect in their eyes if what the girl was saying was true.

"That's not possible," Hank replied with a frown. "Even if Mr. Saotome is alive in 2121, he would be at least 140 years old. How would he be of any use in the war against the Sentinels?"

Fryo smiled, showing off her pearly whites to the room. "That's because Grandpa is amazing of course!"

Hank McCoy wanted to do that thing Ranma often did, a facefault if he recalled correctly, but stopped himself. Looking over to the pigtailed boy, he realized the boy didn't seem to doubt the girl's story.

"Okay, so Mr. Saotome is the High General of your Army, but surely there are more high-priority targets if they wanted to cripple your forces. Maybe his lieutenants?"

Fyro shook her head. "No, it has to be Grandpa, after all, if it wasn't for him there would be no Free People Army."

"Can you elaborate, Fyro?" Jean asked before anyone else could chime in.

Fyro nodded. "Before I was born, a major definitive battle had taken place between the fourth Resistance incarnation and the Sentinels. The battle ended up in the Sentinels' favor as they crushed the last organized resistance of both humans and Gifted. With the death of a majority of the Gifted, the Sentinels then began to cull their former human masters. After all, what better way to stop mutations from forming than by killing them at the source?"

The people in the room shook their heads. They knew that eventually the Sentinel program would make that leap in logic. Bishop himself had seen it first hand.

"After several attempts at unity, it was Grandpa who reached out and reformed the final resistance group. What we now call the Free People. There were many issues between the two sides, both Gifted and humans, but because of Grandfather, they were forced to listen. Together, Grandpa integrated Gifted and humanity into a single cohesive fighting force. The war then lasted another fifty years until we arrived at the final battle, where the Sentinels sent the Omega-X Sentinel back in time to kill him."

There was stunned silence as most of the adults looked at Ranma, now with new eyes. Jean couldn't help but feel that she was going to burst with pride. Sure the future was bleak from the way Fryo described it, but to think that one of their students not only survived, but united both humans and mutants together toward a common goal. It was more than they could have hoped for.

Ranma looked a bit uncomfortable at suddenly being viewed in such a way. As far as he knew, he didn't have any aspiration of leading anyone anywhere... yet the future version of himself did so. He didn't even know if he'd have the patience to lead people. Deciding to divert attention from himself, he brought up a question he'd been meaning to ask.

"You said Saffron was your father, then how old would that make you?"

Jean looked on with great interest, starting to warm up to the idea of having such a pretty granddaughter.

"Nineteen!" Fryo smiled proudly before looking a bit somber. The cheery demeanor gone. "I had other siblings... but they all died before I was born."

The other X-Men look horrified. To lose all siblings, the pain must be staggering.

Jean stood up and walked over to the girl, embracing her softly.

"Mmmm, you're just as warm as they said you were," Fyro murmured before leaning into the redhead's embrace.

"Hey.. umm, Fyro," Ranma spoke up, looking at the girl. "Do I have children also, or descendants?"

Fyro looked at Ranma and turned her head aside. "I-I was told I had aunts and uncles once long ago..."

Ranma closed his eyes and exhaled. He knew what Fyro was tactfully trying to say. They were dead too, his future children.

"I think that's enough about the future for today," Professor Xavier spoke up in a soothing tone, he turned to Ranma and smiled. "While it is sad, please remember that by her coming here, it probably altered the flow of our history, if not changed it completely."

"Right..." Ranma nodded somberly. Time travel made his head hurt. "I think I'm gonna turn in."

As Ranma walked out the door, he sensed Fyro stand up to follow him.

"Fyro?"

"I have to stay with you to keep you safe." Fyro smiled benignly.

Ranma looked over to Jean, who stood up to talk to the winged girl.

"Fyro, Ranma stays over in the boys' section of the dormitory, You can't go." Jean gently told the girl.

"But how am I supposed to protect Grandpa if I'm not near?" Fyro asked with a pout.

"We have automated defense systems, if that machine comes back it'll be sorry." Wolverine growled. Remembering how tough the Machine's hide was. "Besides, it would really help us a lot of you can tell us what you know about this... Omega Sentinel so we can prepare better for it."

Fyro looked torn between her Grandfather and Wolverine's request, but decided to stay behind with her grandmother.

Ranma looked at Jean and gave the rest a goodnight wave before going back to his room. He wasn't surprised by what happened, he was long overdue for something major. That was just his life.

It had been a relatively slow month, what with his constant spars with the Elites, class, and an ambushing Laura Kinney who he found, much to his surprise, was almost like Wolverine without the adamantium skeleton. He had also found that hanging out with Beak and Evan was a lot different than Hiro and Dai. The same with the girls, who did not appear to want him in any further capacity and interacted with him normally.

Shaking his head at the thought as he reached his room, he found the lump that was Beak already fast asleep. No doubt exhausted from the days events. Making himself comfortable, he jumped into his own bed and fell right to sleep.

**** New York City, City Limits ****

Peering at the skyline of a pristine looking New York City was the Omega Sentinel. Unlike many of the Sentinels built in the current era, this one had a heuristic programming that let it learn to think for themselves so that they could outsmart their opponents.

Designated Unit 7, it had failed its mission due to the miscalculation of the Supreme Mind. It was supposed to go back and eliminate its target in his infancy. Instead it was sent to a time where its target had already gained considerable power. If that had been the only complication, then it was fairly sure that it could have eliminated the target. Unfortunately, it had landed in, what was called by their creators, the Marvel Age.

Its mission success rate had gone down from 97.5 percent to less than 35.4 percent after factoring in the data of the probable resistance in this time period. The Great Purge had yet to happen and the superhumans of this era thrived. The mutant population itself was also alarmingly high. The Sentinels had spent years eliminating the Mutants, but in this time they still infested this world and showed no sign of being curbed anytime soon.

Hacking into what was known as the S.H.I.E.L.D. network, it had gathered the relevant data on it's target. It had been detected, but it did not care. After quickly uploading a virus into the humans' mainframe, it assessed it chances once more, which had dropped an additional fifteen percent.

Its target was in the heart of the mutant School of Xavier. He was surrounded by several Omega-class mutants, and no doubt their defenses would be formidable. If it had several more of the latest model of its kind, it might have had a better chance.

So the Omega Sentinel stood, looking at the New York City skyline and calculating its next move, when it picked up a faint signal. It was a code, a code it was inherently familiar with. After all, it was the base code for all Sentinels. Immediately it hacked into the CPU of the signal and found the resistance of little consequence. It pulled up shortly when it dissected the information within the other Sentinel CPU.

It was a lost Prime Sentinel units.

The Prime Sentinels were designed to be an infiltration unit, capable of taking on human form, meshing flesh and machine together as one. To prevent anyone from ever finding out that they were sleepers, the Prime Sentinels were given false identities to act out. They were also not networked to prevent the entire Sentinel army from being compromised. Due to the 'Zero Tolerance' Incident, the Prime models had been discontinued and destroyed by the humans before the War.

Yet, because of what Unit 7 was, it was able to pick up several Prime Sentinel units in the vicinity. Hacking into the city network, it sent out a signal to identify how many Prime Units were available.

A moment later it received its answer and adjusted its chances of success accordingly. It might take a while to get all of the Prime units under its control, but Unit 7 success rate now stood a solid 82.7 percent.

*** Xavier Institute, the Next Day***

"Oh my god!"

Ranma eyes snapped opened immediately upon hearing Beak's alarmed cry and made to get up only to find a weight on him. Looking over to Beak he noted that the boy was staring at him, red faced. He looked down to his chest to make sure he hadn't turned into a girl somehow and was giving Beak a show. What he found was much, much worse.

On his chest, resting as comfortable as could be, was his alleged 'granddaughter.' Her breathing was soft, her arms were draped over his chest, bent so they could tuck underneath her chin. Her head was right above his heart. Her face showed every sign of contentment. Some might even say she looked like a little angel in such a position.

Ranma would not be one of those people as his face palmed and he automatically looked around for any incoming attack from jealous fiancees. Seeing none, the pigtailed boy fell back to his secondary reaction by jumping off his bed in a rush and pointing at the girl who woke up due to the abrupt shift.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

The girl blinked her eyes blearily before they too snapped opened in alarm. Her eyes darted back and forth, her body tensed up. Unconsciously she shifted her position to better prepare herself for combat.

Ranma saw the tensing of the girl's body, her look, the way she expertly took in her surroundings like any good martial artist would before she locked her eyes on him. He saw confusion in those green orbs for a moment before it changed to recognition. The girl's features softened, her schooled expression fading away. The confusion was gone, to be replaced by adoration that was something different than Saffron's. He could admit it made him a little nervous.

"Grandpa!" the girl chirped joyfully and shucked the blanket that had been covering most of her away.

Ranma heard Beak gasp, followed by a thud as he took in the sight of the nude girl before him. "Where are your clothes?!"

Fyro blinked at Ranma's question before looking down at herself. Realization dawned on her face before she looked down over the side of Ranma's bed. Unashamed of her state of undress or who was viewing her, she casually dressed herself while 'grandfather' sputtered in protest at the state of her undress. She had a hard time figuring out why he was acting this way when it dawned on her.

"Are you... embarrassed to see me like this?"

"Who wouldn't be?!" Ranma half-shouted back before calming down. No it would not do to raise his voice and have people pile into his room to find out what was wrong.

"Your face is red!" Fyro accused while pointing at Ranma. "Don't tell me, you find me... attractive?"

Ranma could not deny it, the woman in front of him was of the same caliber of beauty as Jean Grey, Psylock, Storm, and Emma Frost. Unfortunately, he took too long to respond and the girl closed the distance between them quicker then he could react to hug him.

"Oh, how I waited for this day!" Fyro happily exclaimed as her eyes shone. Taking the initiative, she took her grandfather's head and mashed in into her chest, burying him between her twin mounds.

Of course, Evan and Myst opened the door to Ranma's room right then, and were greeted by this sight.

"WHOA!" Evan shouted before shutting the door. If his friend was about to score, he was gonna be a bro about it.

Myst, who only caught a quick glimpse before Evan shut the door, floated closer to the door. A bit red in her cloudy formation, she decided to dispense some advice to her friend. "Protection."

"Put on some clothes!" Ranma ordered and pushed the girl toward his bed. In a panicked rush he went to the door to swing it open. He was greeted by his two red-faced friends. "It's not what it looks like! Get in!"

Myst and Evan looked at each other before nodding and entered Ranma's room, only to see the winged woman, now dressed, sitting on Ranma's bed hugging one of his pillows to her chest. Oddly enough, Beak was on the floor with a goofy expression on his avian face.

"Explain." Myst inquired as politely as she could, but was interrupted by a gasp from the winged woman who was staring at her with something akin to fear. Apparently both Evan and Ranma saw it too as the woman suddenly stood up and snapped to attention.

"General Myst! I did not know you had come back with me!" Fyro saluted smartly before she stood at attention.

Not much threw Myst for a loop, but the girl's reaction sure did. She saw Evan looked as confused as she felt, but Ranma began to chuckle while looking at her. Annoyed, she gave him a look that further emphasized the need for him to explain.

"I don't think she's YOUR General Myst, Fyro." Ranma grinned at his cloudy friend and winked at her.

"My name is Evan Daniels Munroe," Evan introduced smoothly to the winged beauty. He had to admit Ranma was a chick magnet, if he could even get one of Ranma's stragglers he'd be happy.

"Myst." Myst also chimed in, despite knowing that the girl already knew her somehow. She then looked over to Ranma with a waiting expression.

"Alright so... Who wants to hear something crazy?" Ranma asked and saw his two friends raise their hands. Turning to the winged girl, who no longer stood at attention, but instead was looking at Myst in wonder. "Introduce yourself, full name."

"My name is Fyro Grey-Saotome," Fyro reintroduced herself again, doing a formal bow as she was taught.

"Grey-Saotome?" Evan asked, looking over at Ranma.

Myst looked between Ranma and Fyro before her eyes lit up in understanding. "Future."

"Bingo," Ranma nodded. Myst always was the quickest one out of the group. She would have done well in Nerima… well... that or been driven insane.

"Aww, come on!" Fyro pouted, realizing that this was not her Myst. "Is no one surprised about me traveling back into the past?!"

"Well, I mean it's not that uncommon." Evan answered as he was finally able to make sense of it. This was time travel stuff and, to his surprise, Ranma was the recipient, not the X-Men. "There's Bishop, Cable, Rachel, heck, even Nate Grey... Sorta."

"Doesn't..." Myst began as her expression became strained. "Count."

Evan bobbled his head back and forth at Myst reply before grudgingly agreeing. "Yeah, I guess I can see how he wouldn't count."

"Awww," Fyro pouted again before she sat down to hug Ranma's pillow to her chest again.

"So, how far into the future are you from?" Evan asked, as he was now even more curious about the girl's reaction to Myst.

"2121," Fyro answered and heard the black boy whistle while Myst looked a bit disturbed. It was then something occurred to her. "Why are you talking so oddly?"

Myst looked a bit taken aback by the question directed at her.

"She has problems forming vocal cords," Evan explained for his friend before Ranma could chime in. "I assume in the future she mastered that?"

Fyro nodded. "She taught me a lot of things about the old world. I respect her the most right after Grandpa and Father."

Evan and Myst turned to look at Ranma before grinning. "Ranma, you are the only guy I know who has a kid AND a grand kid at the age of sixteen." Evan teased his friend.

"Amazing." Myst chipped in while smirking at Ranma in a teasing way.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up." Ranma grumbled but could not deny it. This was getting ridiculous even by Nerima standards.

"Alright then," Evan nodded as he pulled up a chair from Ranma's study desk and sat down. "Tell us about the future!"

Fyro nodded and recited the story she told the other X-Men yesterday night. Myst and Evan's eyes were nearly the size of dinner plates by the time she finished.

"Whoa... that's some heavy stuff." Evan let out a breath he didn't even know he had held. Why is it that all the time travelers came from bleak, doom and gloom futures?

Myst, however, furrowed her eyebrows while looking at Fyro. "Wrong."

Ranma look to his friend. "What is she wrong about?"

"Not..." Myst looked over to her friend and then back to Fyro. "Sarah."

Fyro cocked her head in confusion, although she was starting to get a good grasp on how this Myst spoke.

"John." Myst finished with a satisfied nod.

"Oh!" Evan stood up, having realized what Myst was trying to get at before looking at his friend. "That's right! You're not Sarah, Ranma, you're John Connor!"

"You mean the kid that Sarah was gonna give birth to?" Ranma asked, remembering the movie they watched not too long ago.

"Yup! Think about it, Fyro here said that you are the High General, not that you would give birth to the High General," Evan nodded at his own brilliance.

"Awww, does that mean I am not Kyle Reese?" Fryo injected, looking disappointed.

"Well... sorta?" Evan tried to comfort the girl but saw her look more and more dejected after they broke down their respective movie roles.

"Wait a second," Ranma eyes narrowed as he remembered something from the movie itself. "Didn't Kyle sleep with Sarah to get John?"

"Oh yeah, that's right." Evan replied before his eyes turned to a blushing red Fyro.

Ranma also was now looking at the girl and realized he knew the expression that she wore. It was the one Shampoo used to wear around him all the time. Could it be that his own granddaughter wanted him?! He mentally slapped himself for thinking of her as his granddaughter when he hadn't even accepted Saffron as his son.

There was awkward silence in the room as everyone realized Fyro's intentions towards Ranma. Thankfully, they were saved from saying anything when Ranma's stomach growled.

"Heh heh, sooo, breakfast?" Ranma asked looking at his friends, who nodded in agreement before he turned to the time traveler. "Wanna come join us?"

"Of course!" Fyro agreed before she stood up, looking at her grandfather. "Wherever you go, I'm gonna go. How else will I protect you?"

"I don't need protection." Ranma scoffed as he proceeded to walk out the door. "Fought that thing yesterday, I mean it was tough but not THAT tough."

"Don't underestimate it." Fyro warned her Grandfather while looking at his two friends. "The Omega Sentinel once slaughtered an entire stronghold within a day. Thousand of lives were lost trying to bring it down..."

Evan and Myst looked horrified by the numbers and even Ranma looked taken aback.

"Were you guys able to bring it down?" Evan asked respectfully.

"Grandpa arrived on the scene after we got the distress call." Fyro recounted the tale, passing by several students that gave her curious looks. "Grandpa broke it, then sent its carapace to be melted down for parts."

"So he was able to destroy it," Ranma couldn't help weird of being unable to do something his future self could.

"Yes, but only after revising the Bakusai Tenketsu." Fyro agreed, making Ranma look at her in surprise.

"I know the Bakusai Tenketsu well enough to revise it?" Ranma asked in wonder.

"You have several versions of the Bakusai Tenketsu, Grandpa," Fyro told her grandfather. "The one I learned from you is Bakusai Tenketsu Revised: Volcanic Injection."

Walking out the front door, Ranma hovering closer to Fyro, the topic now greatly interested the boy after it switched to the Art. He did not see his two friends roll their eyes behind him, knowing by now how single-minded he could be when it came to anything martial arts related.

"Does that name mean what I think it does?" Ranma asked excitedly. He was definitely going to train himself in the Bakusai Tenketsu after winning some Danger Room time from some of the Elites. He figured he'll need a week at the most.

"My ki pathways flow like rivers of lava," Fyro further explained before stopping short and looking at the clear blue sky.

"Fyro?" Ranma asked, seeing the girl stop to stare at the sky, her brows furrowing.

Evan, seeing what she was looking at, smiled. "Beautiful morning, isn't it?"

"Morning?" Fyro asked, sounding a bit awed. "This is what morning looks like?"

"You don't have mornings in your time?" Ranma looked at the girl, a sickened feeling settling in his stomach.

"Of course we do," Fyro replied softly while still looking at the sky. "It just never looked like this... there always so much ash and gray clouds covering everything..."

"Everything?" Evan asked in alarm. "You mean to tell me you've never seen a blue sky before?"

Fyro looked out in wonder still. "Only in pictures... I once tried to fly past the irradiated clouds and nearly died."

"That's horrible..." Evan murmured softly while Myst looked at the girl with pity.

"Well, tell ya what," Ranma spoke up, a confident tone in his voice. "Let's eat outside today so you can sky-gaze all you want."

Breakfast was a quiet affair, many of the students had opted to go on vacation for their spring break or to visit their parents' houses. Some of the students gave the new girl appraising looks, a strange new girl who seemed to be absolutely fascinated with the sky. Evan and Ranma made small talk while Myst quietly listened in.

"... and the largest battle up to date was the Battle of the Five Armies."

"Really?" Ranma was puzzled overall, but finding out what his future self would do and learning about the future was fascinating. "Which five armies were involved in it?"

"The Free People Army and the Sentinels," Fyro replied practically moaning as she ate. The food in this day and age easily trumped that of her time.

The other teens waited for the girl to continued but the winged mutant seem more intent on eating.

"So what about the other three armies?" Evan spoke up, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Other three armies? There were no other three armies," Fyro explained as she ate a fresh orange and let out an orgasmic moan. Ignoring the stunned looks on her audience faces.

"Is is that the Battle of the Five Armies then?It should bet the Battle of the Two armies if anything!" Ranma rebutted, finding some of the names for certain battles to be kind of weird.

"I have no idea," The winged mutant shrugged her shoulder as she tucked some of her white and crimson locks behind her ears. "But that's what General Myst named it and not many gainsay the General, except for you Grandpa."

Evan and Ranma looked at their cloudy friend, who seem to look a bit abashed as she turned her head away from them.

"Well, at least we know you become a bad ass, huh Ranma." Evan grinned and looked at the pretty mutant from the future. "So if you are from over a hundred years in the future then-"

"Good Morning Ranma."

"Outside today? Not afraid of the rain?"

"Who's your new friend? She's too old to be a student."

Ranma and the rest of the group turned to look at the Cuckoo sisters approaching them, breakfast trays in hand.

"Celeste, Irma, Phoebe," Ranma named the sisters in the order they greeted him. He then glanced at the girl from the future, who was still busy letting out little moans of delight from the fruit she had been eating. The Cuckoos gave a quick greeting to Evan and Myst before turning to appraise the newest addition.

Phoebe looked over the new girl with a confused expression. "Is she okay?"

"She's from the future," Ranma explained, the three Cuckoo sisters blinked in surprise before nodding.

"Another dystopian one?" Celeste asked as she sat down next to Ranma and watched the girl eat. "We can assume fresh fruits must not be readily available in the... how far ahead is she from?"

"2121," Fyro replied, before looking at the blonde in question after finishing some fresh cut watermelons. "Again, is there no one surprised by the fact that I came from the future?!"

The three girls gave the winged mutant a mutual raised eyebrow. "You kidding me? We were due for someone either from an alternate reality or from the future."

"Aww, don't be mean, err... Phoebe?" Evan guessed, but the girl frowned back. How did Ranma ever keep them straight so easily! "She's just not used to the chaos that is the X-Men."

"That's Irma," Ranma corrected for Evan's sake and saw the girl in question give him a smile. They had been trying to stump him for a while, now they had taken to dressing up as similar as possible to test his ki sense. They didn't seem to realize that an orange crayon could wear a green wrapper, but the color would still be orange. "So you girls are up early, I figured you'd be spending your week with Ms. Frost."

"You're kidding, right?" Celeste gave Ranma a deadpan expression. "She's going to be glued to Mr. Summers at the hips this entire week."

"Probably literally." Irma added, earning knowing smirks from her two sisters. Even Fyro got the innuendo right away as she looked pretty red in the face. Unsurprisingly, Ranma didn't get it.

"Well, that's their business, but I'm surprised they're not a bit more worried about the killer terminator thing after me." Ranma pointed out. Not that he minded. He wanted to have another go at the Sentinel.

"Terminator thing?" Phoebe asked, being somewhat familiar with the movie.

"Yeah, it's a killer robot sent back to the past to kill Ranma, before he can actually become the leader of humanity," Evan explained helpfully.

The three Cuckoo sisters went quiet for a moment before they all burst out laughing.

"Ranma! The _leader_ of humanity?!" Celeste said before letting lose another gale of laughter.

"I take it things must really be down the shitter for Ranma to be the leader!" Irma also piled on top of the 'tease Ranma' train while laughing.

"Well, it's not just humanity. He also leads the Gifted, what you call mutants in this day and age," Fyro elaborated looking at the three identical blondes.

Of course that earned yet another round of laughter from the three sisters. "I can't see it." Celeste finally stopped, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Hmmph, Laugh it up girls, laugh it up!" Ranma crossed his arms, a bit annoyed at their reactions.

"Well, Grandpa is the leader, so don't make fun of him!" Fyro said defensively, her winged began to unfurl.

The three Cuckoos, who had still been laughing, stopped abruptly upon hearing the girl's last statement. "WHAT?!" Celeste exclaimed, looking between Ranma and the girl.

"You're his granddaughter?" Phoebe asked, also surprised and looking between Ranma and the girl. "Say, what did you say your name was again?"

"Fyro Grey-Saotome!" the girl in question declared proudly.

The three sisters reacted as one as their eyes widened in shock. It was Irma who recovered first as she glared at Ranma accusingly. "You screwed Ms. Grey?!"

"What?! NO! I didn't!" Ranma shouted in denial as he grabbed Fyro by the wings, making the girl blush. "See these? Who else do you think might call themselves Grey-Saotome in the future with wings like this?"

The Cuckoos settled down as they made the connection. "She's little Saffron's kid?" Irma asked, looking back to the girl.

"Bingo," Ranma exhaled, glad to see the misconception about him and Jean wasn't going into the rumor mill...yet.

"So... Fyro is it?" Celeste ventured softly before her eyes took on a curious expression. "Who is Ranma with in the future?"

Ranma turned in alarm at Celeste's question and made to stop Fyro from answering, but was too late.

"Grandpa is not with anyone in the future," Fyro replied sadly.

"Wait if you are from the year 2121, then that means Ranma would be over a hundred years old," Phoebe did the math in her head. "Oh... his wife might be dead..."

"Fyro, who was Ranma married to?" Irma asked, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

Fyro appeared to think about it for a second before shrugging her shoulders. "Grandpa never said..."

"What about your father? He never spoke of Ranma's wife?" Phoebe asked the winged girl, her eyes lighting up with great interest on the current subject matter. She saw Ranma shift a bit uncomfortably in his position, but ignored it.

"Well, Father said that Grandpa and Grandmother was the only true pairing, and never said anything else," Fyro replied apologetically, scratching the back of her head.

"Like, didn't Ranma have children or anything?" Irma asked, curious herself.

"Grandpa did, but they..." Fryo trailed off sadly once again.

The three Cuckoos gasped softly before looking to the pigtailed boy, shooting him comforting looks.

"Hey, no need for any of that. I mean, that's just one future. It's not like it's gonna happen now that we know right?" Ranma pointed out, trying to get rid of the heavy atmosphere. Sure, he might have had kids in the future and they might have died, but they weren't his kids. He also was determined not to let this future come to pass.

"Well, what DO we know?" Evan asked, also feeling sorry for his friend. Turning to the girl he saw her sitting prim and proper. "Any idea how to prevent your future from coming to past?"

Fyro looked at the expectant group and shrugged her shoulders. "No idea."

"Well, what was the major event that started the War?" Evan asked, looking at the girl hopefully.

"I don't know, I just know it started in 2016," Fyro replied with a shrug. "The War was all I ever knew, at least until a day ago."

"A day ago?" Celeste asked, looking at the girl from the future. "What happened a day ago?"

"It was the final battle between the Free People and the Sentinels. We finally won!" Fyro announced proudly. "Then they sent a machine back in time, so I went after it."

That worried the mutants, even Myst. If what Fyro said was true, that meant Fyro's future was inevitable if they did not find the exact moment everything went wrong. For all they knew it could already be too late.

"So you don't know the full details about the war?" Celeste asked this time, a bit somberly.

"I'm afraid not," Fyro looked down apologetically. "I just wanted to make sure we had a fighting chance by protecting Grandpa."

"Ranma is that important?" Phoebe asked while looking at the pigtailed boy in question.

"He's the most important person in the world," Fyro confirmed, not noticing Ranma's uncomfortable shift in demeanor. "Without him, everybody would have been exterminated fifty years ago."

"What did he do?" Ranma asked, surprising everyone. "I mean, what did my future self supposedly do exactly?"

Fyro looked at her grandfather as if debating whether she should tell him or not. After a few seconds of internal debate, she couldn't see the harm. Maybe this would help him become more like the man he was in the future. "Well, I already told you about how he united the broken army of the resistance last night. From what I remembered, there were five resistance and four High Generals' during the first fifty years."

"Oh?" Evan asked interested. Maybe it was someone familiar. "You wouldn't happen to remember their names would you?"

"I believe the first High General came after thirty years of war, someone named LeBeau," Fyro furrowed her brows as if trying to remember. She did not see the shocked looks from Evan, Myst and the Cuckoos.

"High General LeBeau was killed during the American offensive five years later that ended with our main base destroyed and the army fleeing," Fyro tentatively ventured, not clear on the exact day. "The second High General was High General Richards, who lasted two years before he was killed during the battle for Beijing. Like the first High General, our bases were destroyed and our army was forced to flee for survival."

Once again, except for Ranma, the other mutants listened in fascinated horror.

"Do you know what this Richard's power was?" Evan asked quickly trying to see if it was maybe the fame Reed Richards. "Like, could he bend his hands and stuff?"

"I'm sorry," Fyro answered, looking apologetic. "A lot of the information was lost and I never bothered to learn more."

"That's... okay," Ranma patted the girl on the shoulders. He himself wasn't that studious either.

"So who was the third?" Celeste asked curiously.

"The third High General was High General Abigail Stark, she was able to reform the army and gave us a better fighting chance," Fyro continued and smiled. "She died four years later in the Tibetan offensive. Our forces were crushed by the Sentinels, and the majority of the army scattered in the chaotic retreat."

Ranma winced at the tale of defeat after defeat suffered by the resistance. He could see the others also looked unsettled by the story, but remained attentive.

"The Fourth High General to unite the remaining army was High General Trask," Fyro began again after a moment of silence and heard the other mutants gasp in surprise.

"Trask? Did did you say Trask?" Evan asked in disbelief. He was not the only one as he saw Myst had turned into an unformed cloud, while the three Cuckoos grimaced as one.

"Yes, High General Trask, he build his headquarters in Europa and heavily fortified it," Fyro, no longer furrowing her brows having remembered the last general much easier. "He gained us two notable victories in the Australian and Indian grids."

The mutants still looked on in disbelief that a descendent of the Sentinels' creator himself became a High General.

"He died when the Europa fortress fell to the Sentinels and the majority of the army was wiped out," Fyro explained and grinned. "That's when Grandpa became the High General and we had been gaining ground ever since."

After Fyro's tale, the group remained silent before looking over to Ranma. All of them with renewed respect in their eyes, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. While he knew he was good as far as Martial Arts went, to become this High General and lead and unite people? Him?

"So where was I the first fifty years?" Ranma asked, curiosity overriding his discomfort.

Fyro shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I asked, but no one was able to give me a concrete answer. And when I was under your command the subject never came up, sorry."

"So who's your mother?" Celeste asked, looking at the new girl with respect. It must have been horrible to live through such horrible times.

"Alaska Grey-Saotome!" Fyro proudly declared. "She was an orphan found in the northwestern grid of the Americas. She could mimic any Gif-mutant, ability. She mimicked Father's a lot, which enabled her to live longer. People say I got my green eyes and the red in my hair from her."

"You don't know for sure?" Ranma asked, looking at his potential 'granddaughter.'

"I never met her," Fyro replied sadly. "She was killed right after she gave birth to me by an Omega Sentinel."

Everyone was silent for a while after that. Myst was the first one to move over to the girl and gave her a solid hug before she dispersed into mist. A moment later the girl reformed and looked at Fyro with sad eyes. Even the normally haughty and mean Celeste gave the girl a slow hug in comfort.

"Where was Saffron?" Ranma asked, looking at his 'granddaughter.'

"Father was at the frontlines on another continent," Fyro explained regaining some of her cheer.

"Why wasn't he at home for your birth?" Ranma asked. His future self couldn't be that uncaring could he? "If I was the High General then, then surely I could have ordered him to stay at home with his wife."

"You could have," Fyro agreed with a nod. "But you never showed any favoritism when assigning tasks. You always sent the best person for the job, and we knew this."

"Saffron must hate me, I'm surprised you don't..." Ranma shifted uncomfortably again after hearing the girl's explanation. It was reasonable, but was he so cold hearted in the future?

Fyro looked at the young man before her and smiled. Taking him quickly into her embrace she nuzzled him fondly. "Father had never spoken an ill word about you, I myself never blame you, and you shouldn't blame yourself for something you never did."

"But..."

Fyro hugged her grandfather tighter. "It was you who came to save me that day you know. I did not find out until years later of course. General Myst told me that you tore your way through the Sentinels and stopped the Omega Sentinel before he could kill me. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be alive. Now it's my turn to protect you."

Ranma turned a bit red at her words, but eased out of her grip. Sensing the tense atmosphere, he decided to lighten it up the best way he knew how. Looking at the girl, he smiled at her. "So... I guess that means you were taught by me?"

"Of course!" Fyro nodded and smiled, recognizing the look in her grandfather eyes. "I might not have been able to touch you then, but I think a younger, weaker version of you should be an easy victory."

Ranma raised his eyebrow at the girl's words, highly offended. "Weaker? Is that a challenge?"

Fyro slowly walked a bit of a distance away and limbered up in front of the group. The girls looked on at the future mutant's figure enviously, while Evan's eyes just feasted on the free eye-candy.

Narrowing his eyes, Ranma stood up and cracked his neck from side to side as he walked toward the girl.

Fyro grinned upon seeing her grandfather assessing her seriously, something she rarely saw from his future self when they trained. This was going to be fun! Getting into a ready stance, she taunted her grandfather.

"Ready to lose old man?"

"O-Old man?" Ranma sputtered at being called such, but what really irked him was that it was the same tone he used for his own father.

"Oh, quick rule, martial skills only, no special moves. I quite like this area and don't want to burn it down, and first to score ten technical points wins," Fyro hastily added before nodding. Then she remembered looking at her grandfather. "Do you know what technical points are?"

"Are you kidding me?" Ranma asked, now even more offended. He was a martial artist, so of course he knew about the point based system. He was going to bring this girl down a peg or two, trained by him or no.

"Ok, good," Fyro grinned before she got back into her ready stance, wings unfurled in an aggressive manner.

"Myst, start the fight," Ranma relaxed, showing no battle stance whatsoever and saw that the girl across from him was looked at him in annoyance. Saotome School 101, make them angry by not taking them seriously.

Myst nodded, raised her hand up, and brought it down in a swift movement. "Begin."

The moment Myst's arm swept down, Fyro rushed in quickly toward Ranma and aimed for Ranma's most vital spot. The one below the belt.

Ranma eyes widened, intending to keep his stance relaxed in order to assess the girl, only to see her close the gap between them in an instant and punch at him below the belt. It was only years of reflex training that let him block the girl's assault, only to receive an uppercut that sent him flying.

'What the fuck?'

Fyro smiled as she flapped her wings and collided into Ranma's back. Using the momentum, she rammed him into a nearby building wall.

Dazed from the attack, Ranma felt powerful punches hammering into his body before stopping. A pair of hand then grab him by the arms to turn him around. After a few moments he was able to focus on the dirty fighter from the future.

" Yay!I finally won a round! That felt so good!"

"You fought dirty!" Ranma protested as he realized that all the strikes to his back could be counted as standard points used in karate competitions. However, the only reply to his accusation was an even wider smile from the girl.

"You're the one that taught me to always aim below the belt if a male opponent didn't take me seriously," Fyro smiled as she placed her grandfather on the ground.

Ranma blinked. "I... taught you to do that?"

"Yep! Future Grandpa said that if I do that, no matter what happens next time, they would take me seriously," Fyro recalled fondly.

Ranma didn't know what to think, only that he definitely would take the girl seriously the next time. Still, losing even on technical points did not sit well with him. "So, want a rematch?"

"Not today, maybe three days from now," Fyro grinned, seeing Ranma look so put out. "Sorry, but that's what Future-Grandpa taught me. He said that milking an opponent's hurt pride like that makes the victory taste sweeter."

Ranma wanted to open his mouth, but couldn't deny the effectiveness of the psychological warfare. Already he was getting angsty to redeem himself. It wasn't even a real fight!

Fyro looked half-afraid upon seeing Ranma's expression. She nearly relented, but stopped herself. She would stick with what her grandfather taught her.

"My future self is an asshole," Ranma concluded as he sent bad thoughts into the future. He really couldn't be too mad, because those were good ways to piss off opponents. It just-so-happened that he was on the receiving end of it this time.

Before Ranma could say anything else, he spied a familiar figure walking toward them with a familiar winged boy in tow.

"Ranma," Jean greeted her patient and then the rest of her students before homing in on the winged mutant. "Fyro, please don't do that again."

"What happened? What did she do?" Ranma asked, looking at his mentor.

"You're mean!" Saffron pointed to Fyro, who looked away scratching her chin. "You kicked me out of daddy's room and then tied me to my bed!"

Ranma blinked in surprise and stared at the girl from the future. "Why?"

Fyro let out a nervous laugh before looking at the new arrivals. "Sorry Grandma, Father, but there was only enough room in Grandpa's bed for one!"

The Cuckoos found themselves facefaulting to the ground, a habit they had also picked up from Ranma. Thankfully, they turned into diamond beforehand so it didn't hurt as much.

Ranma also picked himself off the ground and patted down his clothes. "So, what's going on Jean?"

Jean grinned at Ranma, a semi-predatory look in her eyes, enough to make the pigtailed boy nervous. "We need to go shopping for Fyro. She wearing my old clothes and since she has to protect you, you come along too."

Ranma eyes widened in horror as he saw the Cuckoos' and Myst's eyes light up in delight. Evans had already run off immediately after Jean announced her intent.

"I don't have a choice do I?"

"Not this time no," Jean confirmed as she pat Ranma on his shoulders. "It is inevitable."

"I hate you."

TBC...

AN: So another chapter done another chapter down! This was basically a big info dump to bridge what would happen next and what the future is really like where she came from. Why? Because it help put this Arc in perspective and let me continue on to the next one without looking back too much. ^_^ I have gotten some feedback that Time Travel suck. I for one loves time travel stories, especially those with X-Men or others. Different strokes for different folks.

Thanks for those that reviewed the chapters and kudos on those who made guessed right. For those you are curious about who Fyro mother was, well the clue is all there but since everything went wrong, she doesn't necessarily have the same name in Broken Future. But she's a legit mutant :D

The Prime Sentinels are also legit and came from the comics itself.

So for the other High General LeBeau is Gambit, Richards is Franklin Richards, Stark is a descendant of Tony, and Trask is a descendant of the Trask family line. Thanks for the support thus far :D

As always C+C welcome Reviews always appreciated.


	12. Broken Future: Part Three

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

Special thanks to Mingyu and Icura who took time and worked on this beast of a fic!

Homo Superior

Broken Future: Part Three

*** Sentinel Central Hub 001, 2121***

Myst floated with great purpose over the heart of the Sentinel facility. The once monolithic base now lay in complete and utter ruin. Smothering embers of light could still be seen in the distance here and there, while miniature explosions were still detonating off in the distance.

The Battle was over, the Free People had won. She would name this the Battle of Endor later on in the archives. However, the joy she felt was so indescribable that she did not even bother condensing herself into a humanoid form. She let herself go, spreading her essence across a mile-wide radius, no doubt surprising many of the soldiers still in the facility.

Like this, she could see from multiple viewpoints as the Gifted and Humans worked together to cart out destroyed and broken Sentinels before throwing them into piles. The stronger Gifted would carry those piles to pits where multiple fire types melted them down.

Of course, that was not to say they didn't suffer losses. The lines of their dead, both Gifted and Humans, were still being laid out. She could see some still crying over lost loved ones while others were simply in a catatonic state. For a moment, she felt bad, but then hardened her resolve. This was the reality they had lived with for decades now; if she let it affect her, then she wouldn't be able to continue anymore.

She could only imagine how the High General felt, since he no doubt would hold himself directly responsible for their losses. But it was still a good trade off. They had won. Their world was theirs again.

Moving silkily across the battle-torn landscape, Myst entered the central hub where the massive form of the Supreme Sentinel, the Master of all Sentinels, could be seen. Its massive form was unmoving. Its head was titled downward and its body was slumped as if it was a marionette with all of its strings cut. Of course, the cause could have something to do with the massive hole in its chest, along with various other damage spots all along its body. Best of all, thanks to Bastion and the tech Gifted had completely erased the mind of the Sentinels' AI in Cyberspace so it could never come back to haunt them again.

Standing in front of the husk of the Supreme Sentinel was a woman dressed in black militaristic armor. The woman's hair was long and straight, her posture ramrod straight and proud. Her figure, even from behind, showed womanly curves that once would be referred to as supermodel-ish. Her attention seem to be riveted to a view screen that encompassed the room; a computerized outline of the moon could be seen onscreen.

Myst moved closer to the woman, condensing into her humanoid form to communicate. Already she could see the woman tilt her head to the side as if she had already noticed the cloud mutant's presence.

"General Myst," the woman greeted in a strong tone, her eyes still focused on the display screen.

"Director Howlett," Myst returned the greeting, a second after fully solidifying, and stood next to the mutant in charge of X-Force, the High General's own black ops team. "Where's the High General?"

"Up there," Director Laura Kinney-Howlett motioned with her chin, looking at the display.

"The moon?" Myst asked in surprise. "That's not possible, the radiation in the sky alone..."

"Apparently not," Laura turned to face the cloudy mutant, sensing her shock. "The Sentinels built a specialized unit that could travel through the clouds."

Myst was taken aback. Why would the Sentinels waste resources on trying to go out to space? Apparently, her expression showed as her long-time friend elaborated.

"According to our tech-heads, a year ago, the Sentinels detected a massive spike of power on the moon," Laura began, looking aside at her friend. "Imagine their surprise when they detected a mutant presence on the moon, Omega-class."

"An Omega mutant on the moon?" Myst asked in amazement. The moon was where the Watcher Uatu once resided. During the early stages of the war, he had packed up his facility and left, never to return. Abigail once said that she was sure the Watcher was still watching from somewhere, just that no one on Earth was welcome into his facility.

"I know, I thought it was absurd myself, but R- the High General appears to believe it," Laura corrected herself immediately. There were still soldiers, and decorum must be maintained. "He had our Techs modify one of the battle suits for zero-gravity and reprogrammed the Space Sentinel for our uses."

"Is there any way to get in contact with him?" Myst asked, ignoring the discovery for now.

Laura turned to look at her friend fully. There was a sense of urgency in her tone. "His last communique an hour ago said that he was leaving the moon with a special package. Is something wrong, General?"

"We lost Fyro," Myst admitted after a moment of silence. She could see Laura visibly pale. Surprising, since the woman never really spent any time with the winged girl. "But she is not dead."

"What do you mean she's not dead? How did you lose her then?" Laura demanded. She knew that the High General doted on the girl, despite being extremely tough on her during training. He had raised her exclusively ever since Saffron was forced into his rebirth cycle eight years ago.

"Well... there's no good way to say this, but...," Myst began, trying to find the right words. "The Sentinels sent a unit back in time to kill Ranma, so Fyro went after it."

"... They had a fucking time machine?!" Laura shouted in rage and glared over everyone else in the room, who were trying their best to be discreet. "How the hell did we not get wind of this?"

"No idea, but that's not the worst of it," Myst continued on. "The machine was really only good for two tries, I'm not sure if we can even fix it to go back and get her."

"Rarrrgh!" Laura growled as she extended two adamantium claws out and slashed the panel near her. "So this could all be for nothing then?"

"Well...maybe... I mean remember Rachel, Bishop and Cable?" Myst ventured as she watched the woman retract her claws, calming down a bit.

"... We still lost Fyro," Laura said finally. "What are we going to tell him?"

"The High General is re-entering orbit now!" One of the techs in the room shouted his report to the two female commanding officers.

The two women looked at each other before Laura stepped forward. "Signal our aerial defenses and let them know. They might mistake him for a Sentinel. Where is he expected to land?"

"Right outside of the citadel, Sir. Aerial defense have also confirmed your orders and are standing by," the tech replied quickly.

Myst dispersed her form and moved from the inside the base to the outside easily. Laura was already running out. The two made it outside just in time to catch a red streak punching through the thick irradiated clouds. Taking on a solid form again, Myst watched as the red steak hammered down right outside the facility.

"Come on," Laura urged as she made to get on a transport vehicle. "We'd best tell him."

Myst was kind of dreading the conversation that was about to take place. Keeping pace with Laura easily, they both made good time to the impact zone to see a figure in power armor extracting something from a Sentinel's back. It appeared to be a gray cocoon of some sort with a red ember on the inside. Not unlike a spider's egg sack or caterpillar's chrysalis.

The armored figure turned, sensing the two presences, as he began to take off the bindings on the chrysalis.

"Myst, Laura." A voice was broadcasted out from the suit. The armored being looked between the two before realizing that someone was missing.

"Where's Fyro?"

*** Present Day, New York***

Driving in a nice little Ford F-150 were three identical blonde girls, a winged girl with a winged boy on her lap, a pigtailed male, and a grinning red head.

The three blonde girls were busy chatting amongst themselves in the back seat. The two winged mutants were busy peering at the scenery from the windows, also in the back seat. The male was resting his head on his palm, also looking out of his window at the passing scenery from the passenger side while the grinning redhead was at the wheel, flipping off road ragers. After pissing off one last speeding douchebag, she turned to her passenger, even as they closed in on their destination.

"Aww, come on, don't worry about getting kidnapped again, Ranma," Jean comforted the pigtailed boy who might have seemed relaxed but a soft brush against his mind told her he was very tense. "We're going shopping in the mutant district today. Anyone that's human would stick out like a sore thumb."

"I ain't afraid," Ranma answered quickly, since he was no coward. However, he was worried about getting attacked again. They caught him off guard once. Never again.

"Don't worry, Ranma. We'll protect you," Phoebe teased with a grin as her two sisters giggled. Ranma's expression told them he didn't think it was very funny.

Before Ranma could retort, a loud gasp from Fyro caught his attention. Her face was pressed up against the window, peering out at something.

"Fyro?" Celeste asked sensing the girl shock and... reverent awe? Following the girl's line of sight, she saw what the future girl was looking at.

"The holy golden arches," Fyro whispered at the building outside of where her grandmother was parking. "The place where meals of happiness are made and an idol is given for the faithful."

Ranma also looked outside to see what had caught Fyro's attention before his face took on a deadpan expression. Thankfully, the three Cuckoo sisters chimed in before he could.

"A McDonald's?" Celeste asked incredulously. Even so, the future girl's feeling of awe was real.

Another gasp emitted from Fyro's mouth as her eyes found another establishment. Only this time, her tone was hostile and her wings began to unfurl, taking up more space in the truck much to the triplets' aggravation.

"It is just like General Myst described! The temple of the red-freckled demon! She who leads others astray with her vile food!"

Jean was about to turn around, being a red head and having some freckles herself, to take issue with Fyro's remark when she saw that Fyro's gaze was turned on a Wendy's located not too far from the McDonald's.

Ranma, however, began to find Fyro's knowledge of the past a bit funny and chuckled. "What next? Burger King is the Sovereign Bovine or something?"

Fyro turned to Ranma and smiled. "Oh, do you know where his place of residence is? You said the Sovereign fled during the war."

This time, the women in the car turned to look at Ranma who began to feel a bit nervous. "W-wha! I..."

It was Jean who turned to her granddaughter and smiled. "Fyro, I believe your 'grandfather' and General Myst might not have been as truthful about the past as I would have liked for them to be..."

Fyro blinked at her grandmother's statement, but gave one last withering glare at the temple of the red-freckled demon before exiting the vehicle. Without the sanctuary of the truck, she was assaulted by all the noises and the crowd of all the Gifted in the area.

"Let's go, Fyro." Jean prompted her 'granddaughter' by patting her on the shoulder. The girl was taking in the sights, no doubt distracted by everything.

"There are so many... Why are they out in the open without protection?" Fyro asked curiously. To her, having so many Gifted in a hub was dangerous, and the humanoid ones weren't even wearing armor! Did they want to die?

"Fyro, things are different in our time," Jean explained softly. She felt that she could readily accept Fyro more than Rachel because she came from Saffron's line and not herself. That, and no woman or child named Alaska came up in any of the searches through their databases. "We have thus far prevented any war, so things are relatively peaceful."

Fyro was still looking around the area with great interest, half-paying attention to her grandmother as she did so. Her father had felt at ease with her enough that he had slipped his hand into her own. She never imagined that her father could be so cute as a child! It was a far cry from the stern soldier he became in the future who rarely displayed affection. Her grandfather, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of his future self. He appeared a lot more reserved toward her, something that stung at her heart a bit. On the battlefield, he was stern, but his words had always been soft when there was no battle.

Celeste and the other girls weren't stupid. They saw the way Fyro kept glancing at Ranma and how the pigtailed boy purposefully avoided looking the girl in the eye. On one hand, they kind of felt bad for the girl. On the other, it was Ranma who was afraid of anything that resembled affection.

"So Fyro, I bet you've never been shopping before," Irma perkily decided to break the ice.

"Of course, I have! I'll have you know that my squad and I were able to acquire a bunch of energy crystals after our shopping trip to Grid 27," Fyro proudly proclaimed.

"You guys have a market in the future?" Celeste looked amazed by that fact. Grid 27, she could deduce, was a name of a place that currently would not exist.

"Of course, how else would we ever get energy cells and replacement parts for our weapons if we didn't go shopping?" Fyro nodded.

The Cuckoos felt that even though they appeared to be talking the same subject, it might have a different meaning in the future.

"Fyro, I think what you call shopping in the future is known as stealing in this day and age," Jean explained, after reading Fyro mind to actually get her definition of shopping.

"I know what stealing means! Stealing is when I take something that doesn't belong to me," Fyro declared proudly.

"And your raids on the Sentinel bases don't count as stealing supplies?" Jean countered, a bit amused by the girl.

"Grandpa said it doesn't count as stealing if they are your enemies. It's shopping. General Myst agreed." Fyro nodded as she continued to hold onto her father's hand, who was content with just looking around at the new sights and sounds. Truthfully, she wanted to do it herself. But she was a soldier, she would not be overwhelmed.

Jean and the triplets turned on the pigtailed boy, who was pretending that he was not listening in on their conversation. However, the insistent stares did not relent until he gave in to their attention.

"Well, I mean, they ARE your enemies..." Ranma chuckled nervously, but Jean only sighed in disappointment while the Cuckoos seemed to be considering his words. Ms. Frost sort of taught them the same thing.

"Well, I am going to show you what proper shopping is all about," Jean affirmed before she took them into a clothing department store.

The sales lady was a zebra-striped mutant with scaled skin.

"Greeting customers!" the zebra-striped sales lady greeted her potential customers warmly.

"You have anything for winged flyers?" Jean asked, pointing at Fyro and Saffron.

"Of course, right this way," the sales lady agreed and lead them over to another section of the store.

"Oh, and something for shape shifters too," Jean grinned while looking at Ranma.

"Oh no! Nononono!" Ranma turned to run, but found himself floating just off the ground by some B.S. telekinetic ability.

"It's time," Jean grinned, and Ranma knew only hell.

+++ New York City University+++

Unit 7 walked over the dead bodies of the building security in its way and stood in front of a computer terminal. Transforming its hand into a USB socket, it linked up with the school server and began its plan of attack.

**UPDLOADING CASCADE VIRUS...**

+++ Four Hours Later +++

Ranma was sitting on a bench outside in her girl form, her arms were stretched out and her legs splayed open in a very unladylike fashion.

"Ranma! Have you no modesty?" Jean asked, seeing the way the pigtailed girl was sitting. The new clothes that she got were a red, horizontal-striped shirt cut off at the arms, black cargo pants and half-boots. As if in reply, Ranma adjusted her belt slightly before continuing to take a breather. Saffron had fell asleep within the first hour, a phone call to Kiima took her 'son' off her hand. Surprisingly, Susan Storm had been in M-Town today and had offered the Baxter Building for the young mutant to rest. No doubt, the blonde was trying to find a playmate for her son, Franklin.

The two boys were close enough in age she mused.

Thankfully unlike Ranma, Fyro had taken to shopping like a duck to water. However, her outfit of choice was incredibly risque. In fact, the one she had on now was just a one-piece sundress that was open in the back for her wings. The length of the skirt was only halfway up her thighs. It covered enough of her to be modest, but her figure and the way she moved made it almost indecent.

The Cuckoos, for some reason, had chosen an outfit that many men would consider their ultimate fantasy. A black short half-vest that only covered the stomach area over a white, almost see through, blouse, with loose zebra ties around their necks, completed by the skirt that only covered midway down their thighs. Add in the black ankle-high socks, and they were the very definition of naughty catholic high school girls.

Jean herself chose something conservative that helped to highlight her figure, a yellow and black striped shirt with form fitting white silk pants.

Luckily for Jean, she parked the truck close by and was able to easily load the clothes inside. She couldn't help but feel that the reason Ranma was so reluctant to shop was because he felt he didn't have the money. While that was true, he did have a scholarship. And then there was the reward money S.H.I.E.L.D. sent to his parents, because he wasn't a legal adult, for the destruction of the Sentinel factory. They should have sent him something by now.

Of course, what he did during his time at the institute alone warranted a nice reward, and she was pretty well off all things considering. All in all, Ranma was too modest. Even Akane did not put up this much of a fight when she was taken shopping. Smirking, she could tell Ranma was getting surlier by the minute. Well, she had a nice little trick to diffuse that.

"So, how about we get some lunch?"

Ranma's eyes shot open, and she stood up, only to find that her reaction was mirrored by her supposed granddaughter from the future.

"Can we go to a buffet?" Ranma asked, looking around for any such establishment. It was a shame that Myst wasn't here, but maintaining her form was actually very tiring. And spending so much time out and about shopping might have taxed her ability to stay cohesive.

"Don't worry, we can order as much as you need. We're in M-Town. Trust me, they know the appetite of some mutants are beyond that of ordinary people," Jean explained, smiling at the relieved look on Ranma's face. The boy-turned-girl could be rough around the edges, but he had been trying to be polite.

Ranma gratefully nodded to the fellow redhead before looking around for a bathroom. "Be right back."

"Fyro!"

Ranma turned around to see his winged granddaughter from the future following him. "Errr... where do you think you're going?"

"With you, of course. How else am I supposed to protect you?" Fyro asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But I'm going to the boys' bathroom," Ranma pointed to the sign that clearly indicated boy.

"So?" Fyro asked, looking undeterred. "I need to come with you to ensure you'll live."

"... Did you just try to reverse that Terminator line?" Ranma stared incredulously at the pretty girl, who looked a bit embarrassed.

"... maybe..."

"Fyro, please stay., I can keep tabs on your grandfather from here.," Jean reassured the girl by tapping on the side of her temple. "If he feels the slightest bit in danger, we'll go in after him."

"Right..." Ranma looked at Jean weirdly before walking into the boys bathroom. There were two mutants inside, one a guy who had three eyes with a mohawk hairdo.

"Hey babe, I think you got lost or something because-" the mohawk-wearing mutant began before the hot redhead splashed herself with water and grew into a very obviously male mutant. "Ugh, I hate traps!"

Ranma smirked at the boy's disappointed tone and looked down at his new clothes, which had stretched out to accommodate him. Amazingly enough, the fabric didn't even seem to be straining and felt snug. Though it did hug his body a bit too closely, it worked. The pants went from snug to loose as they extended with his growth. Ingenious. Stomping his feet, he noticed the half-boots felt nice and light, a bit like his kung fu sandals.

"Not bad," Ranma admitted as he walked out to the join the rest of the girls.

"Wow!" Fyro grinned at seeing her grandfather exit, looking like a new man. Quickly, she jumped over to him and intertwined her arms with his while ignoring his uncomfortable look.

The triplets seemed to be appraising the way the shirt hugged his body. They knew he was built, even though he certainly wasn't ripped the way Cyclops or Wolverine were. But there was something about the way he moved, his aura of confidence, that they found attractive.

Jean smirked at the girls. "See something you like, girls?"

"What?" Celeste reacted first, blinking her eyes to refocus. "No!"

"Oh? It looks bad on me?" Ranma asked honestly, looking down at his new outfit. He thought it was decent at least.

"Huh?" Celeste wondered, before she realized what she might have inadvertently implied. "What, no, you look fine."

"Oh, he looks fine, huh?" Jean teased gleefully, knowing that Ranma would not get the byplay.

"I mean it looks fine on him!" Celeste tried to elaborate to an even more confused Ranma. "Not that he looks fine."

"So Ranma is not good looking?" Jean asked seriously, but her eyes were lit up with suppressed laughter.

"No! I mean he is, I- mff!" Celeste futilely tried to explain, but both of her sisters had reached up and covered her mouth to spare her any more humiliation.

"What Celeste means to say is you look really nice in that outfit, Ranma," Phoebe concisely commented.

"Well thanks!" Ranma cheerfully replied. He didn't want to be called ugly; he did have his pride. Then he turned the appraisal back at the three girls. "Those clothes suit you really well, but you might have to watch out for the boys when you get back."

Ignoring the triplets' stunned look, he turned to Fyro, whose grip on him had gotten tighter when he complimented the Cuckoos, and nodded to his granddaughter. "And you look cute in that dress too, of course."

By this point, Jean had to turn away to keep from laughing as Fyro snuggled against Ranma's chest, noting the look of jealousy on Celeste's face. Ah, teen drama. How fondly she remembered it. It made fools of everyone. Too bad as it stands, Ranma really was incapable of thinking about anything more than friendship. Akane's conditioning was simply too deeply ingrained in his psyche.

"So, about that food?" Ranma asked, showing his priorities.

"Let's go there. You ever had a New York pizza before?" Jean smirked as she lead them over to M-Town's most famous pizza shop.

"What's the difference?" Ranma asked. Pizza was pizza as far as he was concerned.

Jean raised an eyebrow as she entered the shop. The chef was a normal, heavyset Italian-looking man. "Oh, I will have to show you then. Bernado, we've got a first-timer here who thinks a pizza is just a pizza."

"Oh no, that will not do, Ms. Grey!" Bernado exclaimed as a gleam appeared in his eyes. "I will have to show him New York's finest now, won't I?"

"You do that. Also, I need to order fifty more New Yorker specials for the school, along with anything else we might order here," Jean replied, making the man extremely happy.

"What's a pizza?" Fyro asked, looking at the weird-looking food displayed curiously.

"Egah!" Bernado exclaimed in shock, along with more than half the patrons, at the pretty winged girl's question. "You've never had a pizza before?!"

Fyro shook her head cutely. "Is it any good?"

"Is- is, is it any good?!" The fat man repeated in disbelief.

"She's... from out of town," Jean diplomatically told the shocked chef.

"Missy, we'll give her the finest New York pizza we've ever made!" the fat chef promised as he personally went back to make Fyro's pizza.

"Wow, looks like you're getting the royal treatment." Jean smiled at the winged mutant, who was sniffing at the pizza on display. After paying for the food, they took their seats near a window and watched the passersby.

"They look so peaceful," Fyro commented as she looked out at the people walking up and down the street. "And they are all gifted?"

"Mostly," Jean confirmed. "There are some regular folks that grew up in this neighborhood and never moved. An example that mutants and humans can live in peace."

"Hmm, I don't think we have that problem in the future," Fyro commented, before receiving shocked looks from the other telepaths in the area, and blush. "I mean... you know after everything."

"Must be weird for you, huh?" Ranma asked, having realized what the girl was trying to say.

"Yes..." Fyro admitted to her grandfather. She made sure to sit next to him and took the window seat so he wouldn't be an easy target. "Where I come from, even though I know the history somewhat about us being enemies, every human treats the Gifted with respect. There is no hatred, that I've heard about anyway."

"I'm just sorry it took near extermination for them to realize it," Jean spoke softly. A somber yet hopeful thought about Fyro's future. She wished Fyro had more information on what went wrong, but the girl just did not know. If they did not find the cause for the war, then their timeline diverge properly. Luckily, Hank and Forge were working on possible scenarios by extrapolating on the knowledge that Fyro gave them.

"It was all thanks to Grandpa here," Fyro declared proudly before wrapping her arms around Ranma and snuggled up to him. After that, there was only quiet conversation before Bernado came over with a large metal tray in his hand.

"And here we are, New York's finest pizza, made with only the best ingredients," The chef proudly declared as he placed the large metal plate on the table. The smell wafting upward was tantalizing as the item in question was chock full of pepperoni of all kinds, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, gratuitous amount of cheese, and onions. And that was just what was visible.

Everyone at the table looked at Fyro expectantly as the girl picked up a large slice and sniffed it before biting down. The chef looked on confidently as the girl slowly chewed the first small piece before her eyes widened and let out a moan that did not really belong in a pizza joint.

"We did it!" Bernado shouted, and his helpers and most of the restaurant patrons cheered as the girl began to devour the slice in her hand.

"Thank you," Jean thanked the chef before looking over at the girl who continued to eat. "Slow down Fyro, there is more where that came from."

Ranma, who had also picked up a slice, ate it with as much gusto as Fyro, enjoying the exquisite taste of the food. "This is good!" he exclaimed after destroying three slices.

The Cuckoos took a modest slice each even as Jean did the same. They watched the two big eaters and couldn't help but feel jealous that Fyro's figure was still in top shape despite the many slices she had consumed.

Eventually the group finished their meal and Jean expertly lifted the fifty pizza boxes out through the door via telekinesis. Something clicked in Ranma head. Sure he might not have enjoyed the shopping, but Jean never once really pressured him into anything regarding his choices. Deciding to be helpful he turned to the redhead. "You know, I can carry the pizza for you or whatever... no big deal."

"You're offering to help, Ranma?" Jean asked with a raised eyebrow. It looked like her pseudo-lessons were working. Ranma needed a lot of positive reinforcement to undo the negative conditioning.

"Uh... yeah," Ranma agreed, shuffling his feet nervously. "I mean, if you want..."

"Why of course, It is always nice to receive help," Jean positively reaffirmed with a smile before handing Ranma half of the pizza boxes. They weighed nothing to her, but Ranma didn't need to know that.

"Sure thing! Anytime you need something just let me know," Ranma confidently agreed.

"Us too?" Celeste smirked, chiming in seeing how Ms. Grey was playing Ranma.

Ranma turned to consider the Stepford triplets and set his jaw before nodding. " Sure why not, you girls aren't _too_ bad."

The triplets had to blink at that. Ranma never really offered help and had to be coerced into everything unless it benefited him. They had accepted that little quirk. So to hear him agree to help on a whim was surprising. Turning to Ms. Grey, they saw the woman gave them a knowing wink.

After loading everything into the truck, placing the pizza in the bed, everyone was settled in.

"Alright then, time to go home. No doubt the boys are hungry," Jean commented playfully as Wolverine and Hank would no doubt be fighting over the pizza. Putting the key in the ignition, she turned it and heard a loud boom accompanying the roaring of the engine.

For a moment, Jean thought the truck had been rigged with explosives, but the people running past on the street said differently. Rolling down the window, she looked outside and heard several more explosions close to M-Town.

"What's going on?" Jean asked, trying to find any coherent thought as the city of New York looked as if it were under attack. Taking out her iPhone, she tried to get in contact with anyone but found that service was unavailable.

Turning on her satellite radio, she heard only a low humming sound no matter which station she tuned in to. To her horror, several buildings collapsed in the distance. Switching to the AM stations, she was finally able to find an emergency broadcast.

"...some kind of virus that is wrecking havoc with all the city electronics. Oh my god! The Helicarrier is falling even as we- wait, I see some of the Avengers there, Thor and other heroes are flying in to stop it. I tell you folks, I have never seen anything like this and... this just in, there are reports of random attacks all over the city by some type of flying robot."

Fyro looked up in alarm and got out of the car. She flew straight up in the sky and returned a few moments later with a hardened look on her face.

"Fyro?" Jean asked, looking at the angry girl.

"It's a common tactic the Sentinels in our time used. Viral bomb takes out the computers, attack when communications are down. Our firewall always managed to recover, but not before they dealt a significant blow against our forces..."

"You think it's that thing again?" Ranma asked, not really understanding all the networking talk but knew she was talking about the war in her time.

"I am sure of it, but that is what worries me," Fyro continued looking around. "They should be attacking us in force. But they are not, which tells me they didn't know Grandpa was here."

"The Institute!" Jean cried out in alarm. Closing her eyes to focus, she reached out to the professor.

_'Professor!'_

'_Jean_?!' Professor Xavier responded in surprise, before he thought forcefully to her. '_Do not bring Mr. Saotome back to the Institute! Take him someplace else. The Omega Sentinel overwhelmed our defenses with Prime Sentinels._'

'_Prime Sentinels?! How? Are the others okay? What's going on?_'

_'We have some injuries, but we have requested aide from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, sit tight! Do not come back here!_'

The connection was abruptly cut off, making Jean all the more fearful for her headmaster.

"What's going on Jean?" Ranma asked, seeing Jean's face pale.

"The Institute is under attack by Prime Sentinels, the Omega is looking for you," Jean whispered softly and heard the Cuckoos gasp in surprise. The most dangerous thing about a Prime Sentinel was that if they got close enough to you, they could temporarily suppress your mutant power.

"Myst, Evan!" Ranma realized in alarm. "Akane!"

Jean heard the tone in Ranma's voice and turned to glare at him. "You can't go, you have to stay here. I'll go," Jean declared in an authoritative voice. Then she realized that the professor was waiting for help that will never come. Neither S.H.I.E.L.D. nor the Avengers were available with New York seemingly under attack.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Ranma scoffed, looking at his mentor. "I ain't staying here while someone else fights for me."

Jean's emerald green eyes met Ranma's dark ocean blue as they realized that any attempt to reason with the other would amount to nothing. Ranma's hand shot out even as Jean telepathically tunneled into Ranma's mind to shut him down. Unfortunately, Ranma had been learning how to create mental defenses from Jean herself. And while it was flimsy, the time it took for her to tear through it was all the time Ranma needed to hit a pressure point on her neck, knocking her out.

"Ranma!" Celeste shouted at the clear assault on a professor of the Institute. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

Ranma was nursing his head from Jean's violent attack, but it was clearing up slowly but surely. There were so many things he needed to prioritize in his training, it wasn't even funny.

"Celeste, talk softer, seriously."

"Why did you attack Ms. Grey?" Phoebe demanded, looking at the pigtailed boy.

"She was going to stop me from going to the school. They're after me, remember," Ranma reminded the Cuckoos, whose eyes all widened in realization.

"Y-You can't go. If you go that means giving the Sentinel what it wants," Irma reasoned, and saw Ranma nodding in agreement.

"I don't have a choice. Myst and Evan are still at the School, and everyone else is fighting on my behalf. I am NOT going to just sit here and hide like a coward," Ranma gritted his teeth as he opened the passenger door and looked back at the Cuckoos. "Stay here with Jean until she wakes up."

Fyro exited the car with Ranma and looked at him. "You know I could stop you from going right?"

"But you won't," Ranma said, looking at Fryo. "If you were taught by me in the future, then you would know that I am not the type to run away from this. No matter how much I change, even if I am some big-shot leader, I won't let others fight my battles for me."

Ocean-blue eyes met jade-green eyes as the two family members stared at each other, gauging the others' resolve. It was Fyro who smiled first. "And this is why I love you, your stubborn nobility."

Ranma narrowed his eyes, making sure it wasn't another trick from his 'granddaughter' to catch him off guard. "You're going to let me go do what I need to do then? Not gonna try to stop me?"

"Absolutely, I'll even go with you," Fyro declared with a smile before frowning. "Really wish I had brought the staves back with me."

"Alright then, let's go!" Ranma announced and made to leap away before stopping short. Turning back to the Cuckoos, he looked at the triplets who still eyed him worriedly. "You- ah... wouldn't happen to know the general direction of the Institute, would you?"

Despite the gravity of the situation, the Stepford Cuckoos collectively facepalmed.

+++Xavier School for Higher Learning+++

"**Eradicate Mutants!**"

"Yeah, yeah, Eradicate Sentinels is more like it!" Evan shouted as he fired a few sharp bones at the incoming Sentinel. To his ire, the attack merely scratched the body of the damn thing.

"Left." Myst head formed before turning back into cloud and floating quickly away.

Turning left, Evan avoided yet another narrow beam and saw Gambit and Bishop fighting off a few Prime Sentinels.

"Mr. Bishop! Mr. LeBeau!" Evan shouted in relief. The two adults turned around and saw the Prime Sentinel pursuing their student.

"I got dis mon ami, take care of tin-can here!" Gambit shouted as he charged several cards and toss them at the Sentinel pursuing the students.

"Thank you sir!" Evan praised, even as he noticed the Prime Sentinel was only slightly damaged.

"Get out of here Evan!" Bishop shouted before he absorbed yet another blast from the Sentinels he was fighting and returned fire.

"I can't sir! There no place to run!" Evan argued as he began to shoot bone spires while Myst remained a small cloud, unable to do anything. "None of the emergency elevators are working and I can't contact anyone underneath the labs."

Bishop and Gambit look at each other grimly. Bishop had an idea of what was happening. Their network has been compromised.

"Stay close to us then, Evan, Myst," Bishop ordered as he continued firing at the encircling Prime Sentinels.

Just then a powerful beam of energy struck the Prime's and wind lashed out, pushing the Sentinels further away.

"Hellion, Wind Dancer!" Evan shouted in relief at seeing some of the Elites up and about. A feral roar preceded X-23's entrance as she jumped on top of a machine and ripped it to shreds. The previously outnumbered mutants now had much better odds.

"Where are the other Elites?" Bishop asked the leaders of their group. Aiming his gun, he fired a blast that took down another Sentinel. But there were still so many more. He thought S.H.I.E.L.D. had rounded them all up, but evidently he was wrong.

"Working with the other students to protect everyone," Hellion explained as he fired more of his powerful telekinetic shots at the Sentinels. "Ms. Moonstar is leading them."

Bishop nodded, under Dani Moonstar the students stood a much better chance. "They seem to be swarming all over."

"Yeah, most of the buildings are being turned into Swiss cheese," Sofia, aka Wind Dancer, shouted as she fired slicing wind attacks at the Sentinels. They were able to damage the Sentinels some, but wasn't as powerful as the ones Ranma could make. She have seen that attack cut through thick concrete steel. She had been trying to create attacks like his, although she did find it amusing that he envied her ability to fly.

Hellion nodded as he fired yet another telekinetic attack at a Prime Sentinel that sent it fly away. "Well, we have to -ARRGHH!"

"Hellion!" Sofia cried out, she noticed that additional Prime Sentinels had begun to swarm in and were firing on the group at long range. Hellion had taken several direct hits to his body, knocking him unconscious. Extending her hand, she wrapped Hellion within some bands of winds and carried him to cover with the group.

"Come on you little shits! Bring it!" Laura Kinney shouted as she leapt on top of one Sentinel after another. Each time she landed on one she stabbed it in the neck area and ripped upward.

Some of the smaller female-type Sentinels flew directly into Laura and pinned her to the ground. Their chests emitted a frequency that took Laura by surprise, but she managed to cut of their heads in the exchange.

"What the hell was that," Laura growled as she ran back to the group after retracting her claws.

"Laura! Your hands!" Evan shouted as he pointed down at the Elite's arms. The girl look down at her hands and saw blood pouring fourth from four holes where her claws had retracted into.

"My healing factor..." Laura whispered in a stunned voice. Her wounds weren't closing and she was still feeling the pain the usually went away almost immediately.

"Bandage." Myst uttered in a helpless tone of voice, looking at Evan.

Evan nodded as he took his shirt and tore strips off the bottom. "Want me to help you put them on?"

Laura stared at her wounds before nodding. She might have to fight like this, and her wounds weren't closing and she was starting to feel the blood loss.

Evan tied the strips around the girl's hands, but took great care to keep his own hand away from the wounds just in case the claws popped out again.

"Dis be bad, mon ami," Gambit growled as more Sentinels flew in range of them. Opening his second deck of cards, he charged it up and continuously tossed them at the enemy. "You take da kids and go,I'll stay behind."

"Not on your life, LeBeau," Bishop retorted as he fired more shots at the incoming Sentinels. Then two flyers arrived and hammered into the group. It was Cannonball and Sunspot.

"Go! We'll cover you," Sunspot hovered for a bit before exchanging fire with the Primes. The clouds began to darken overhead with forks of lighting striking at targets in the distance. "That's Storm. Go on, you've got more wounded and kids."

"Thank you," Bishop saluted before taking the kids deeper into the forest. He looked over at X-23, whose eyes were drooping and her face have gotten paler. "The effect of their weapons usually only last a few hours. It neutralizes our X-Gene ability."

"G-great," Laura gritted her teeth. "Now you tell me."

"I can cauterize your wounds if you like," Bishop offered, holding up his glowing hand.

"Do it," Laura agreed and took off the bandages. She picked up a broken branch off the ground, put it in her mouth and held out her hand.

"Careful, Mon Ami, da pain might force her claws out," Gambit warned, being somewhat familiar with Wolverine.

That pulled Bishop and Laura up short.

"Forget it," Laura dismissed, leaning against a tree trunk. "I can't guarantee my claws won't pop if I'm in too much pain."

Bishop wanted to try and risk it, but did not want to lose his hands over it.

Evan tore some more strips off of his shirt and bandaged the still bleeding girl's hand. Looking over to Hellion, he saw three burnt holes in the Elite's chest, but he appeared to still be breathing.

Suddenly their clearing became more crowded, as both Sunspot and Cannonball fell to the ground. Their ragged breathing the only sign that they were still alive. Looking up above, they noticed a silver-colored Sentinel standing out from the rest.

"_**Bishop: Energy Absorption Mutation. Threat Assessment: 2.3 Percent." the Omega Sentinel announced, looking at the mutants before him. "Remy LeBeau: Kinetic Charge Mutation. Threat Assessment: 1.9 percent**_."

"Ey, I got more were dis came from!" Gambit shouted as he charged up his cards, looking at the Silver Sentinel.

"_**Sofia Mantega: Air Manipulation. Threat Assessment: 0.9 Percent, Julian Keller: Telekinetic. Threat Assessment: 7.2 percent, Evan Daniels: Bone Growth Mutation. Threat Assessment: None. Misty Varro: Molecular Manipulation of H20. Threat Assessment: 74.9 percent- addendum, Current Status: None.**_"

Everyone looked over at Myst, who seem a bit shocked at her own assessment as the Omega Sentinel loomed them over.

"_**Laura Kinney Howlett: Healing Factor. Threat Assessment: None.**_"

Laura growled at being dismissed like that, but then she realized the Sentinel used a name she did not recall ever using. "Howlett?"

"_**Proceeding with Inquiry: Where is Ranma Saotome?**_" the Omega Sentinel demanded as it leveled it's impressive guns at the group.

The group remained silent, glaring at the machine above them.

"_**Offering Incentive: Give the location of Ranma Saotome and you will be unharmed.**_"The Omega Sentinel negotiated.

Many of the group did not really know who Ranma Saotome was, not personally, but still they wouldn't give up one of their own. They were X-Men after all.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say you can go FUCK YOURSELF!" Laura spat out, standing tall to face their executioner.

"_**Negotiation Failed: Proceeding with Elimination.**_" The silver Sentinel announced as its canon charged up.

"Not on my watch bub!" Wolverine shouted as he smashed into the Omega Sentinel and start to slash as it with his claws. To his frustration, his sharpened blade did little against the Sentinel's adamantium body.

"The Goddess will fell you this day, vile creature!" Storm shouted as she called down lighting to strike at the Sentinel.

"_**Excess External Energy Siphon: Charging up Pulse Canon, Returning Fire,**_" the Omega Sentinel declared as it leveled its guns and fired at Storm, striking her full-on and smashing her into one of the ruined buildings.

"Oro!" Wolverine growled out as Emma Frost and Cyclops entered the clearing.

Cyclops, upon seeing the students and Laura, barked out orders. "Get them out of here, Remy!"

"Aye capitane!" Gambit shouted as he picked up Laura in a bridal carry and made to flee, only to find more Prime Sentinels covering their escape route. "We in deep doo doo!"

Cyclops immediately set to work, firing optic blasts at the Sentinels while Emma turned into her diamond form and hammered away at the Sentinels, along with Wolverine and Bishop.

Unfortunately, numbers were not on the mutants' side, as several well placed shot took down the leader of the X-Men, also taking Emma Frost's attention away.

"**Neutralizing Mutant Healing Factor,**" one of the Prime Sentinels spoke up as it got close to Wolverine and suppressed the X-Man abilities. One blast from its hands later and the clawed mutant found himself knocked out on the ground with open bleeding wounds.

"Nooo!" Laura shouted at seeing Wolverine's state. Struggling free from Gambit's arms, she made her way to her progenitor.

The Prime Sentinels looking down at the mutants raised their arms as one. "**Acquiring new Tar-**"

Whatever else the Sentinels wanted to say, they were unable to as several fireballs detonated into the group of Primes, knocking some away while damaging others. The rest of the Primes, however, were cut in half by an invisible attack as red fluid burst out and rained down on the mutants.

The Omega Sentinel's sensor picked up the other time interloper. "_**Fyro Grey-Saotome: Fire and Winged Mutation. Threat Assessment: 35.5 Percent.**_"

No sooner had the assessment left its mouth than another figure smashed both of his feet into the Sentinel's face, knocking it back a bit.

"_**Target: Ranma Saotome, Found. Eliminating.**_"

"Yeah yeah," Ranma shouted as he jumped into the fray against the Omega Sentinel, and much to his irritation, found that he couldn't make a dent in it. The Sentinel, undaunted by the attack, lifted the rifle in its left land and pulse canon in its right, and began firing.

Fyro spared only a glance for the other mutants to make sure they were still alive before she dive bombed into the Omega Sentinel. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

Recognizing the attack, Ranma immediately closed in on the Sentinel and hammered away at it as his 'granddaughter' from the futures used the Volcanic Injection technique on it. As with the last time, he saw hairline fractures develop on the robot's body. Quickly using his Amiguriken, he continuously struck at that area before the lava cooled. Smiling at the progress, he engaged the robot again and caught it off guard. To his surprise, the robot's speed and strength had improved. Every single blow he blocked was tough on him.

Fyro continued to fight the Omega Sentinel with her grandfather. The plan they came up with was simple. She would have to keep on doing the Bakusai Tenketsu, and he would continue to widen the cracks with the force of his punches. It would be slow going, but something made of adamantium could only be destroyed by extreme heat.

Unit 7 was calculating its chances with the combination of Fyro and the target fighting against it. It was not concerned about the punches produced by the weaker version of its nemesis. The problem would be the mutant girl's ability to use the Breaking Point technique on it. It was not on the same level as the High General, but given enough time they might be able to break through the first layer of its armor.

It needed to neutralize Fyro.

Sending out the signal, it ordered the Prime Sentinels to attack the winged mutant near it. The Prime Sentinels only flaw in this time line was their base code still had the fail safe to not attack humans. They would not attack its own target. No matter, it would deal with Ranma Saotome itself.

"_**Neutralizing Mutant**__._" Several Prime Sentinels smashed into Fyro and forced her against the ground.

Fyro shoved the Sentinels off of her and blinked. She didn't feel any different. and flapping her wings she found she could still fly. Charging back into the fight she unleashed another Bakusai Tenketsu.

Ranma was ready to hammer into the next crack in the armor, only to see none. The surprised look on Fyro's face mirrored his own. Meanwhile, the Omega Sentinel fired both of its weapons at the two, sending them smashing through several dozen walls.

Fyro was about to get up when indescribable pain tore at her back.

Unit 7 had chosen to pursue the winged one first and, upon reaching the still recovering mutant, grabbed both of her wings and snapped them forward. Then, to add on damage, it twisted a bit more at the joint, eliciting another cry of pain from her. Cocking it metal fist back, it punched repeatedly at her back and noted that it had broken several of the girl's ribs.

"Get off of her!"

A powerful kit blast composed of red rage slammed into the Sentinel, but it remained unfazed by the attack. It did, however, turn its head to the target and unceremoniously release its grip on the girl.

Fyro's eyes were clouded by tears of pain. In all her life she had never felt anything so painful, not even when battling her Grandfather. The gift she received from her father had always ensured quick regeneration, yet here she lay broken and battered. She tried to feel for the hot ki in her system, but found that there was none. Only an unfamiliar energy remained, energy she did not know how to utilize.

"H-How?" She muttered softly, feeling completely useless. Where had her power gone.

Ranma dodged a few strikes from the machine and retaliated in kind. Yet no matter how hard he punched, how many stone breaking kicks he landed, they did nothing to the Omega Unit who kept coming at him relentlessly. Firing a powerful Moko Takabisha into the machine, he found that it did next to nothing against the adamantium skin.

Ducking yet under another blow, Ranma tried to aim his punches at the connecting joints on its body. But the impacts, like all the others, exposed no weakness. Suddenly the machine sped up and reformed the cannon on its hand into a fist. It then punched at Ranma with over 25 tons of force behind it. Ranma's eyes widen as its punches became harder then those of Ryoga. Everywhere he looked he saw flying Sentinels all around. He could run, he knew he should run, but if he did then the Sentinels would descend on Fyro again.

The machine silently stalked toward him, its metal hand now formed into a single solid blade. Deceptively fast, it stabbed forward and Ranma only narrowly avoided it. Not deterred, it struck again, its hand almost blurring as it did so.

Ranma found himself dancing away from the strikes, much like he did against Kuno's attacks from so long ago. The toughest part of the fight was that the machine did not move naturally. It moved by the most improbable, yet efficient, means. Back flipping away, he leveled his arm and fired a Hiryu Shoten Ha: Horizontal Blast at it. To his chagrin, it continued to move through the wind funnel undeterred.

Unit 7 wouldn't say it felt frustrated, it was not programmed with that emotion. It was, however, quite annoyed that even at its top speed it could not land a killing blow on the younger Ranma Saotome. The younger one's self-preservation instinct was strong. It needed a way to around that. Calculating the information, it turned back to the winged mutant. If it could smile, it would have.

Ranma was surprised when the machine suddenly pulled up in an abrupt stop. Then the machine turned its head deliberately toward Fyro. Without warning, it rushed in at its top speed toward his 'granddaughter' from the future, its stabbing weapon raised high. He knew that it must be a trick to get to him, it was blatant and obvious, yet his body had already moved to intercept before he could consider it.

'_Ranma you idiot, indeed._.' Ranma thought ruefully as, just before the machine could stab Fyro, he was able to use his charging momentum to knock it off course and into the forest.

"G-gr-grandpa?" Fyro, who had seen the robot rush toward her, tried to crawl away and stop being a liability for her grandfather on the battlefield. She was happy that he came to her rescue, but saw that her grandfather was clutching at his side. Her eyes immediately moved to the area and saw that blood was leaking profusely from his side.

Ranma dropped to his knees in front of his 'granddaughter', tears were falling from her pretty jade color eyes. He knew he shouldn't have done it, yet he found he didn't mind giving his life for the girl who would be Saffron's daughter.

"G-grandpa!" Fyro body convulsed as she sobbed. "Y-your hurt...bad..."

The Omega Sentinel, to Ranma's surprise, deliberately walked out slowly from the forest. Its right hand was still formed into the stabbing weapon that was intended for Fyro. Its left was a large sickle blade dripping with fresh red blood.

The moment he had crashed into the machine to knock it off course from Fyro, the machine plunged that scythe-like weapon into his body and ripped through his internal organs. He found it a bit hard to breathe to be honest.

Unable to move and unwilling to leave Fyro alone, Ranma knelt there glaring up at the machine looming over him. If he didn't know better, it appeared to be gloating.

"_**Target: Ranma Saotome. Eliminating**_," The Omega Sentinel declared as it raised its scythe hand even as Ranma charged one final ki attack and fired it. Much to his surprise, this time it sent the machine flying far away. Further than he would have thought possible in his current state.

"RANMA!" a trio of voices shouted

Turning his head around, he did not see anyone. But then his ki senses told him to look up, and there was Ms. Grey hovering down with the Cuckoo sisters.

'_Ah, so it must have been her telekinetic attack too,_' Ranma thought ruefully to himself. Even as he was bleeding out, that thought irked him.

"Ranma!" Jean immediately rushed to Ranma's side, looking horrified at the gash in his side.

"Oh my god!" Celeste exclaimed. Next to her, Phoebe cupped her hands to her mouth in shock. There was so much blood on the grass!

" Ranma shivered a bit. He then looked down at his legs and saw that his blood had completely soaked through his pants. "H-heh, So-sorry about dirtying the new pants."

"Don't you dare talk like that," Jean glared at the boy. Her medical training kicked in and she tried to assess the pigtailed boy's wounds. Gingerly, she removed the boy's hand form his side and saw even more blood flowing from a massive gash running up his side.

Unfortunately the Cuckoos could not stop the tears that sprung up from their eyes.

"W-watch out!" Ranma shouted as, with strength he didn't know he still had, he shoved his mentor away just in time to avoid a Prime Sentinel's attack.

Jean turned to look upwards at the Sentinels in the sky. With a spark of fire in her eyes, she tore all the Sentinels in her sight to pieces. Her eyes returned to their green color immediately as she tried to suppress the phoenix power inside of her.

Unfortunately, the Omega sentinel refused to give her the time she needed, as an adamantium bullet caught her on the right shoulder and sent her to the ground. Several more ionic pulse blasts smashed into the Cuckoos, who turned to diamond just in time to prevent any injuries.

Turning her gaze back to the Sentinel from the future, Jean tried to use her telekinesis to hit it again. But it countered the force and kept walking toward the group. She tried to gathered more power like earlier but found that herself coming up empty.

"_**Target: Jean Grey: Threat Assessment: Omega-class, Priority Elimination.**_" The Omega Sentinel announced loudly as it leveled its guns at her.

Ranma forced himself to his feet and jumped into the first shot meant for his mentor and was blasted into a building.

Jean eyes lit up with fire, the mysterious Phoenix Force once more ready to be unleashed at her command. Before she could do anything else, a bright burst of light emitted out, accompanied by a large booming noise. The fire in her eyes quickly died out as she felt the light wash over her. It tingled at her skin and reminded her of Illyana's magic in a way.

Suddenly the school became foggy and a series of explosions rattled through the school like firecrackers. Just like that, the fog slowly appeared to be coalesce into a single area, at the center were two people. The first was a female who wore some black battle armor that hugged her form in a flattering way, her hands were balled up into fist and had two set of matching claws not unlike X-23 jutting from it. Unfortunately the woman face was covered by a helmet, but it was the male next to her that arrested Jean attention completely.

He wore a casual skintight uniform, black with a large X symbol across his chest and two matching ones on the sleeves of his suit. Unlike the female, his face was uncovered. His deep blue eyes shone with softness as he locked eyes with her.

"Nice to see you again, Jean," The man voice declared fondly.

Jean was shocked. Her eyes could process the sight, but she was just unable to believe it. "R-Ranma?"

TBC...

AN: SO! For those that are X-Men fans and Marvel, should see a good bit of easter eggs all over the place. Now I should explain something about Prime Sentinels for those unfamiliar with the X-Men aspect. Prime Sentinels were specially created by a Sentinel from the future. Bastion. Bastion however is Pro-humans and sought to protect them against ANY mutant threat the current government in charge deemed a threat. Bastion decided that he would serve humanity and when the U.S gov gave him the Okay to create and deploy the Prime Sentinels, he did so by taking real people and fusing machine parts into them. That blend allowed them to negate mutants abilities.

In the X-Men Saga called :Operation Zero Tolerance. The X-Men from Cyclops and Jean down to almost everyone else got their ass handed to them by the Prime Sentinels. They also stripped all of the tech from the Xavier school AND were in the middle of trying to crack the X-Men main frame to find out all the other mutant location when the U.S gov rescinded it's order. SHIELD came to enforced that order if the Bastion and his prime did not back down.

Surprisingly enough, Bastion stood down, because he's main goal have always been to defend humanity. SO he went willingly and all the Prime Sentinels were rounded up and destroyed. The research into making it was also destroyed.

So it was not OC , OP Sentinels I made, they were legit. Only for Story purpose, I had a good size Primes still in sleeper mode.

Hope that shed some lights on the subject matter.

Thanks you for your kind reviews, I know some people dislike time travel story but this is marvel and I love marvel Time travel stories. For the first half I wanted to inject slice of life to show the world through Fyro eyes, more interaction with Ranma and just how badly off the information she was taught about this era doesn't match up. Is Myst a troll ? Probably, but if you lived that long and everything you know is gone. You'd do whatever you want too. These are not professional military of the old world. It's a new world order.

For those that still with me, thanks! If not, ah well. Different strokes for different folks!

As always C+C welcome reviews appreciated!


	13. Broken Future: Part Four

Ranma belong to Rumiko Sensei

X-Men belong to Marvel Studios!

Special thanks to Nathan and Mingyu for editing this fic!

Homo Superior

Broken Future: Part Four

*** Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, NOW***

The moment the blinding light cleared, Ranma's breath hitched for a moment. Had the Nanban mirror actually worked? He was sure Illyana was able to fuse it back together decades ago. Yet, in that moment, with the Sentinels swarming the sky and the destroyed buildings everywhere, Ranma was almost certain he had missed his mark.

It was then that he saw _her,_ alive and still breathing. Her red hair fell over her shoulders in silky waves, and that familiar fire shone in her eyes as she glared at the Omega Sentinel. Extending his ki senses, he felt for the rest of them, vibrant mutant life forces. There were familiar ones, some that should be dead, except for the two that matched his companions. Although they were weaker and not as bright, but they were young.

He almost missed Fyro, as the life signature was the same but the roaring inferno that was her power was gone. He took in her battered and broken form and saw that her life force was still high. She was brutally injured, but not fatally so. A wave of relief washed over him.

All of this, Ranma ascertained within heartbeats.

"Myst," Ranma spoke softly to his foggy companion. "Clear the area."

No reply was needed as the one known as 'Death Fog' covered the area in her presence and destroyed the Sentinels before they could even register her as a mutant.

"Laura," Ranma prompted his other companion who had her claws out. "My younger self appears to be fatally injured. See if the emergency aid kit can do anything."

Laura nodded and began her search for Ranma's younger counterpart, using a combination of what Ranma had taught her about ki tracking and her own sense of smell.

Ranma felt several pairs of eyes on him, chief among them was the familiar emerald set that he hadn't seen in over half a century. Jean Grey was looking at him, her eyes confused for only a moment as she took in his features. A moment later, her eyes widened in surprise.

Giving her a small smirk he greeted her.

"Nice to see you again, Jean."

"R-Ranma?!" Jean confused voice came out. It sounded different from how he remembered. But then again, the years could have taken a toll on his memories.

"Found him," Laura voice sounded out as she jumped toward a nearby building. From her belt she had already removed a needle loaded with nanites

"All clear," Myst reported after she reformed into a humanoid shape. "Except for that fucker over there of course."

Said 'fucker' was obviously the Omega Sentinel, who appeared to be rooted to the spot and looking directly at him. No doubt analyzing its best course of action. He was a bit surprised that the Sentinels were destroyed so quickly. Even the big fat ones usually took far longer for Myst to squeeze until termination. Of course, one can't simply squeeze adamantium. Turning his head his eyes widen slightly at the pristine looking New York skyline, before an explosion caught his attention. Focusing his senses, he realized that there were more mutant lives being snuffed out. Most likely by the Sentinels the Omega had highjacked.

"Myst," Ranma spoke up. "Secure the city."

Myst blinked for a moment before grinning. "One bullshit, 'I Win,' ghost army coming right up!" She gleefully added before a huge fog wave headed out toward New York City.

Ranma shook his head at her commentary and turned his gaze to the Omega Sentinel, which was still rooted to its spot. Ignoring it for now, he made his way over to his granddaughter while removing an emergency aid injector from his belt.

He felt Jean try to enter his mind, but easily blocked her out. She could force the issue, he knew. But she wasn't, not right now anyway. Not with so many things failing to add up. Within seconds he was kneeling next to his granddaughter and noted that her wings were broken.

"G-Grandpa," Fyro asked. Hope, fear, and love all mixed together in her voice. "Y-you're here?"

Without answering her, Ranma took the cap off the needle and jabbed her with it in her broken ribs.

"Arrgh!" Fyro cried out as her bones mended painfully quick, both in her wings and her ribs.

"That's better," Ranma declared. The broken bones mended themselves, but it wasn't perfect. She would have to recover the rest of the way herself with good, old-fashioned bed rest. Looking up, he wasn't surprised to see the Omega Sentinel still standing there, looking at him. Its programming no doubt calculating if it was worth engaging him on the spot, or to flee.

Of course, it didn't matter what consensus it came to. The Omega Sentinel wouldn't be leaving the area alive.

"Ranma?" Jean asked again, this time vocally after failing to get past his mental shield, which was even sturdier then what the best non-telepathic mutant could do. "I-is that really you?"

"No way!" Celeste chimed in after she dropped her diamond form. She had only seen the back of the man from where she and her sisters had been knocked to. They had thought it was one of the X-Men, what with how big and built he looked. But Fyro had identified the figure as 'grandpa', which could only mean one thing. That was Ranma, from the future!

The older Ranma stopped mid-step and slowly turned around to stare at the leader of the Cuckoos.

Celeste and her sisters finally got a good look at the future version of the boy they knew. What stood out immediately were his dark intense blue eyes and the shape of his face, which had lost all traces of baby fat. Next, was the fact that there was light scaring on his face, not large by any means, but enough to stand out. The hair style was almost the same as what his younger self sported, but seemed spikier, while the pigtail was gone, replaced by a braid. Still, the intense look that he was giving them was making her feel self-conscious. She could feel heat rising to her cheeks as his eyes seemed to just drink in the sight of her and her sisters. She couldn't help but think that he had grown up to be very handsome, despite the battle scars.

"Celeste, Phoebe...Irma..." Ranma whispered softly. In retrospect, they were the first girls he had befriended that were not pushy. They also made his time at the Xavier institute quite enjoyable. He was just too young and stupid back then to appreciate their efforts.

Celeste mind-linked up with her sisters and could feel them all blushing hard at the way his voice seemed to caress their names. "Ranma?"

Suddenly, the stern and handsome face softened and he smirked in a very familiar fashion. The smirk seemed to take years off his countenance, and for a moment the sisters could see their Ranma in this older version. To their disappointment though, he turned back around.

Ranma brought his attention back to the Sentinel, even as he felt the Cuckoo approaching closer from behind. Jean herself appeared to be lightly grazed on the shoulder, but was making her way to him as well. He chose to leave Fyro's side, as he knew the girls could set her at ease. Instead, he confronted the machine.

"Let me guess," Ranma began, looking directly at what passed for the Sentinel's eyes. "Unit 7?"

A flash of light in the machine's eyes let the time-displaced man know he was right.

"Really? So silent? Where are the famed Omega physiological warfare tactics?" Ranma asked as began to close the distance between himself and the Sentinel. "Where's the deliberate motion to intimate?"

The Omega Sentinel still remained silent, rooted to the spot. Suddenly its hand changed into a massive ionic cannon and was brought it to bear on the man in front of it.

"Ranma watch out!" Jean shouted in alarm, seeing Ranma still standing there, and the blast from the canon struck Ranma before her telekinetic attack could hammer into the Sentinel from the future. Her attack barely moved the thing, but to her surprise the attack never landed on Ranma. A faint energy outline of some kind appeared around him.

"Really? That's the best you got?" Ranma taunted as he stepped in closer, his ki-barrier protecting him easily from the blast.

Jean and the Cuckoos watched in fascination as the Omega Sentinel transformed more of its body into energy weapons and began to barrage Ranma with them. Yet, there appeared to be a light shield around Ranma that absorbed all of the attacks effortlessly.

"You have a better chance trying to go hand to hand with me you know." Ranma informed helpfully. "I mean, a stab from an adamantium knife could still hurt me."

The machine stopped its barrage and transformed its right hand into an elongated blade while its left hand became a sickle.

"That's more like it!" Ranma cheered as the Sentinel closed in on him with blinding speed and stabbed its arm forward while swiping in at him with the sickle that was its left hand.

Unit 7 watched as its greatest nemesis matched its speed effortlessly and grabbed its right bladed weapon with his fingers, while stopping the sickle at the wrist. Its servos worked overtime trying to exert more force to land a fatal blow on its nemesis, but it could not budge an inch.

"Wow...you really were stupid enough to fall for that weren't you?" Ranma appeared shocked before setting his face into a stern expression.

Jean and the Cuckoos could not believe how effortlessly Ranma appeared to be stopping the Sentinel in its tracks. It was then that the Sentinel raised its leg and kneed Ranma in his stomach. Yet Ranma acted like he didn't feel a thing.

"You guys love to do assessments," Ranma casually spoke as he threw the Sentinel a few yards away from him. "Let me do one of my own. Target: Omega Sentinel. Threat: Laughable. Proceeding with elimination."

The Sentinels decided to flee right then. It would get more factories under its control and come back for its nemesis. But the High General was already in front of it as it tried to fly away. With a simple backhanding motion it was sent crashing into the ground.

Immediately it swiped its left arm but found the High General's hands on its connecting joints. Its internal system blared an alarm as it sensed the damage to its joints. Whatever the human was doing, it fused the rotor in the joint that allowed movement and transformation. Even its knee joints were compromised. Quicker than it could react and struggle, the openings for all of its weapon ports were fused shut.

Ranma methodically used his revised '_Bakusai Tenketsu, Five Point technique: Molten Destruction_', to cripple the machine. Because it was made of adamantium, nothing less than the heat of lava could melt it. While Fyro was able to use the one-fingered 'Volcanic Injection', he could use all five of the fingers on his hand and expand the flaws in the machine chassis at five times the rate. Then of course, with his massive ki reserves, he could quickly superheat the cracks and have the damage bleed onto the weapon ports before cooling it down with his Soul of Ice technique.

Within seconds, the majority of the weapon ports were all fused shut. Even a sliver of melted adamantium could hold the entire port closed.

Standing above the now immobilized Sentinel, Ranma grabbed it by its neck joint and pulled it up to his face.

"I thought you should know," Ranma began as he grabbed the upper right shoulder of the Sentinel, as he saw the weak spot there. Slowly yet surely red cracks began to appear in the area, cutting deeper into the machine's frame. "It's over."

And just like that, the cracks expanded completely around the arm joint and, combined with the pressure applied, severed the arm from its body to open a path directly to its power core.

Ranma watched the long metal arm fall to the ground. Still holding it by its throat, he began to gather powerful, condensed ki in his left hand and shot it up skywards.

Reaching a good distance above the fog-covered city of New York, Ranma slammed the ki attack back down into the opening of the Sentinel's body and watched the machine spasm in his hand. Ranma quickly removed his arm as the neo-fission power core detonated. Because of its adamantium frame, the machine did not blow up. Instead, the excess energy searched for release through the only openings available, the machine's head socket and the joint where its arm was severed.

With a casual tilt of his hand, he directed the energy of the explosion upwards and into the sky.

+++ Ground Level+++

Director Laura Kinney Howlett didn't flinch when the sky lit up with familiar fission energy. She was used to it after having seen it a few times personally. Her main concern now was the very young looking High General before her. His lips were blue and his face showed an unhealthy pale. She had given him all of the emergency aid that she had on her, but it did not seem to be keeping his vital signs from dropping.

The emergency aid was a quick shot of bottled healing factor distilled from her mutation. Unfortunately, because it was not her, it was only twenty percent effective. So while they could cure superficial wounds or bleeding immediately, something as complicated as evisceration, as she saw here on the younger High General, was beyond its abilities. All it did was close up the wounds on his side and hopefully mend some of his guts together. Unfortunately, it was an undeniable fact that he needed more than what they could do here. Much more.

"Step avay from ze student, stranger," an accented voice spoke out loud.

Laura looked up and felt her heart nearly stop. Before her was a still-living Nightcrawler. Realizing what this might look like, she raised her hands in a non-threatening gesture before slowly taking off her helmet, making the blue-furred mutant gasp.

"L-Laura?!" Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler, asked in shock. The woman before him looked almost exactly like Logan's daughter, Laura Kinney.

"Kurt," Laura immediately greeted in a familiar way to put the X-Man at ease. "I assure you I am the same Laura Kinney you know. I have arrived from the future with Myst and Ranma."

The X-Man looked warily at the woman for a while, looking ready to teleport the injured boy at her feet away at a moment's notice.

"This Ranma needs medical attention. I am not sure if the medical science you have would be sufficient," Laura continued to talk in a soft non-aggressive tone. As long as she kept this up, Kurt would not feel the need to attack or attempt a botched rescue attempt. "Now what I am going to do is apply this little device on Ranma here to put him in temporary stasis. It should prevent him from dying."

Kurt watched as the woman who claimed to be Laura Kinney from the future slowly unstrapped a device from her belt and placed it on the boy. He knew he should try something, but they already had people from the future here according to Professor X. He just wasn't privy to the details. His indecision let the beautiful woman before him activate the device. A small force field of some kind now covered the boy.

"See, now he should be stable enough to move. Thank you Kurt," Laura immediately praised him to show that she was grateful for his acceptance.

"I vill get ze Professor," Nightcrawler said before disappearing with a 'bamf' sound.

"Laura?"

Laura turn around to see her old friend, Sybil, looking at her confused. The girl's golden fur was matted down with blood, but none of the wounds on her looked very bad.

"Sybil."

Sybil sniffed the air a bit more and frowned. "It is you... isn't it?"

"I'm from the future," Laura explained simply. Her arms held out in a surrendering gesture. "Ranma should be back momentarily after he finishes cleaning up the Omega Sentinel."

"You're from the future?" Sybil asked, a bit shocked, before recovering. It wasn't so strange. Bishop, Rachel and Cable had proved that time travel was possible. The smell of her teammate also confirmed it, this was Laura Kinney. Yet her appearance was older, more mature. She found herself accepting it before looking down near Laura's feet and gasping.

"Is that Ranma?!"

Laura watched as her golden-furred friend practically teleported next to the boy and fretted over him. However, the force field around him prevented the girl from touching him.

"He'll be fine," Laura assured the distraught girl, as she heard the sound of someone 'bamfing' back.

+++ Up in the sky+++

Ranma opened his eyes as the explosion cleared, his body had a thick layer of sub-arctic ki wrapped tightly around him to prevent frying. In his hand was the husk of the Omega Sentinel, hanging lifelessly. It was little more than a glorified shell of adamantium now. Looking down, he noticed that most of his shirt had been burnt off, as were spots on his pants. He could have avoided it, but he didn't want the blast to be undirected. He owed it to the people in this century to redirect the fission blast in the most harmless direction possible, out into space.

The body of the Omega Sentinel still glowed brightly, showing that it was still hot to the touch, but this was nothing he couldn't handle. Closing his eyes, he let tendrils of artic blue ki turn the hot husk into freezing metal, eliminating most of the irradiated fallout.

That done, Ranma slowly floated back down even as he saw the fog over New York City receding. Myst must have completed her objective.

When he landed he noticed Laura was with several people he have not seen in ages, including a very slightly off-put younger version of herself. There were Professor Xavier, Scott, Emma, Wolverine, Jean, the Cuckoos, Fyro, Hank McCoy and finally Sybil, all looking at him as he descended.

As soon as he landed, Ranma dropped the husk of the Omega Sentinel unceremoniously to the ground. Immediately he felt three separate attempts at reading his mind and reinforced his mental defenses. He could see the shocked expressions of Professor Xavier, Emma Frost and the Cuckoos. Shaking his head he arched his eyebrow at them.

"Now, I know it has been a while, but how do you think that my soldiers would feel if the Blessed Xavier and the Ever-Virgin Emma Frost broke their rule about reading other people's minds without their permission? They'd be shocked I tell you! Shocked!"

There was a moment of stunned silence before Emma Frost glared at the man from the future. "The WHAT?!"

Ranma winked at the blonde, making the Cuckoos feel a bit miffed for some reason.

"Hey!" Celeste started. Was Ranma hitting on Ms. Frost? However, anything else she wanted to say was silenced when Ranma's eyes fell on her.

"But you... I'm gonna knock you out for old times sake." Ranma casually picked up a tiny pebble in his hand and held it between his thumb before flicking it.

The pebble sailed past Celeste face with such force that the wind rushed through her hair, making it flutter back. A moment later, there was a loud sound like a crack. She immediately turned around to see that the pebble had created three foot wide cracks on the building walls behind them.

"Whoops, used a bit too much strength, need to scale it down for the next one," Ranma apologized in an embarrassed tone as he bent down to pick up another pebble, but was interrupted by the throat clearing from the Professor.

Professor Xavier, who looked a bit embarrassed at having been caught, was now all but sure that the powerful man before him, the one that exuded such a commanding presence, was the same cocky boy that attended his school.

"Mr. Saotome, I presume?"

"You got it, Professor," Ranma acknowledged before he noticed some of the group staring at his body. "While I might be able to survive a nuke, my clothes can't. Sorry that the sight is not prettier."

The sight in question was a perfectly shaped body. However the image was marred by the numerous heavy scars from his neck down to his navel, even along his arms. There was evidence of many wounds that healed, but left their mark. There was even a deep one running from the left side of his shoulders all the way down past his covered belt line.

"...What happened to you?" Jean asked softly, studying the scars with a professional eye. Most of them, she could tell, were from deep cuts. Several of them showed evidence of high energy blasts.

"War, what else?" Ranma answered simply. He saw Wolverine nodding his head at that and smirked. "We can't all be blessed with healing factors, now can we?"

Before Wolverine could reply to the light banter, a wall of clouds appeared from beyond the tree line and condensed into a single figure. A very familiar one.

"New York is all clear," Myst reported after she formed next to Ranma. She had already noticed the old X-Men from her younger days and gave them a fond smile.

"Good, now go help them clear the debris and any injured," Ranma ordered. The girl saluted and spread her essence out throughout the campus, shifting through debris. "Professor, if you'd would be so kind to check and see if anyone might require immediate assistance?"

"Never fear, Mr. Saotome," Professor Xavier confirmed as he moved his wheelchair closer to the heavily scarred man. "I have already checked everyone on the grounds. We got off relatively light, as the Prime Sentinels seemed more interested in disabling mutants rather than killing them. Contrary to what they stated."

"Ah, that's right, Prime Sentinels were programmed to disable mutants by the old U.S. Government for confinement. Even the Omega Sentinel would have a hard time overwriting that command."

"So is that why they were saying "Eradicate," but never took the kill when they had us dead to rights?" Sybil asked curiously, her eyes still not leaving the scarred, older Ranma.

"Yes, Bastion and his Sentinels were made to protect humanity," Director Laura answered, startling the group. She saw her younger self giving her an appraising look, but ignored it. What interested her more was her father. Though he might not admit to it, she saw a gleam of pride in his eyes.

"Yeah, and judging from what happened, fat lot of good that did them," Wolverine answered while looking at the man before him. The man before them was a veteran, a soldier. Even his own senses were screaming at how dangerous this man could be, as if there was an alpha male before them. Already he noticed Sybil and his Laura had adopted a submissive position, though Laura seem to catch herself after a time before trying to resist it. He did idly note that the majority of the older Ranma's scars seemed to be on the front, with very few on the back.

"F-Wolverine," Laura began and corrected herself. "It was not Bastion's Sentinels that caused this war. In fact, Bastion has been our ally for quite some time now."

"What?!" Several members exclaimed at once.

"What do you mean he's your ally? He hates mutants," Cyclops exclaimed. He still remembered the damn Sentinel hybrid strapping a bomb to his chest after disabling his power. The invasion of the mansion, as well as the strip mining of the Institute's technology also came to mind. Bastion came so close to wiping them all out, and now they find out he's an ally?

"Well, if he still hate mutants then I guess leaving him in charge while we're away wasn't such a good idea, was it?" Ranma grinned winking at his Laura who, to the shock of many, smiled back.

"You did what?!" Wolverine cried out in disbelief as he looked from the man to his future daughter. They did not appear to be joking.

"Forgive us Ranma, but Bastion being a good guy seems rather farfetched," Hank McCoy reasoned while cupping his chin.

"Yeah, we thought so too at first. But over the years he's proven himself an invaluable ally. He's also a great teacher for the New Gifted" Ranma shrugged, seeing the stunned looks from the rest of the older X-Men.

"R-Ranma, is that true?" Jean asked, finally able to mentally catch up with these bombshell revelations.

"Yes," Laura spoke up for Ranma. "Ranma was teaching the mutants how to use their abilities, much in the manner that the Professor and Magneto had done. However, as his responsibilities grew, he could no longer divert his attention to overseeing their training. So Bastion volunteered, pointing out that only someone who had hunted mutants like he had could understand them enough to teach. Ranma agreed."

There was a moment of stunned silence once again before Cyclops ventured a question. "But, doesn't he hate us?"

Laura sighed and looked at the X-Men. "He doesn't hate, hunting mutants was what he was programmed to do. He came to the conclusion that all of humanity would turn into mutants one day. So that meant that mutants were humans to him, and thus fell under his programming to defend humanity."

"W-What?" Emma Frost asked, not believing her ears. Bastion, the same damn Sentinel that had hounded the X-Men and her students, finally came to the conclusion that they too were humans? "How did that happen?"

There was a moment of silence before Laura spoke up again.

"It happened because the Neo-Sentinels turned on humanity. Bastion's model was considered older, there were still plenty of them around, sixty years ago. However, a new generation of Sentinels was made with a new Master Mold. Eventually, that Master Mold came to the conclusion that all of humanity would turn into mutants. Thus to complete its programming it had to eradicate humanity. Bastion's Sentinels disagreed. The fallout from the Sentinel Civil War irradiated our skies completely."

The X-Men were shocked. The Sentinels had warred with each other over killing humanity, and by extension mutant-kind.

"Bastion's faction lost, as they were older and the new ones were upgraded and mass produced. He offered his help shortly thereafter to Ranma and has been an invaluable ally since."

"What if he's lying? It could be a trap and you guys are falling right into it!" Wolverine growled, not believing two of their kids could ever trust that machine-like man.

Laura rolled her eyes at Wolverine and said, "Okay, so the Sentinels you're used to usually decide to kill off everything vaguely human because their leap of logic says that mutants will always come from humans, right? That the only way to eradicate all mutant life is to cut it off at the source by getting rid of the humans. Therefore, humans are mutants waiting to happen and must be eradicated, right?"

"Yeah," Logan said as he crossed his arms.

"That's because the overriding directive in their code is to 'Eradicate All Mutants,'" Laura said. "Meanwhile, Bastion, and the Sentinels he created, had a different baseline code hardwired into them that meant their end goal was different. The very foundation their code was built on, and the highest goal they were given, was 'Protect Humanity.' See the-"

"Oh, for fuck sakes!" The older version of Myst shouted in frustration, surprising the adults. She turned to look at Wolverine. "Just watch '_I, Robot_' and don't make her start up again!"

"Hey!" the Laura from the future protested, glaring at her friend.

"Seriously, just watch the damn movie, it's better then Laura long winded explanation," Myst insisted as she gave her friend an exasperated look before turning back to Wolverine. "Oh, and spoiler alert, Bastion's the robot."

Wolverine growled at the implied insult to his intelligence, but filed away the movie title for later viewing.

The moment stretched out in silence before Ranma coughed, prompting his Laura to continue.

"Right..." Director Laura resumed as she turned to Ranma. "Your younger self is too heavily injured, I don't think they can save him."

Ranma looked at the leader of his X-Force and digested the new information. "Then we'll take him back with us."

"Y-You can do that?" Fyro asked, looking at her grandfather with wide eyes. She thought her grandfather was stuck here with her as well. Her injuries were starting to feel a lot better, all things considering.

"Of course I can," Ranma grinned as he pulled the Nanban mirror from his hidden space and showed it to his granddaughter. "This old man ain't out of tricks yet!"

Fyro looked at the mirror and wondered what it had to do with anything. "Why didn't the Sentinels use that instead of building a machine then?"

"Well, because robots can't cry," Ranma answered mysteriously and smiled at the confused look on the other's face. "It's the best chance for young me to live anyway. We got a Bac-"

"It's a medical regeneration tank!" Director Laura cut in vehemently, glaring at Ranma. "You are not calling it by that stupid name Myst gave it."

"R-right," Ranma agreed nervously. His hands were up in a surrendering gesture at the older Laura who appeared to bare her fangs at him.

The change from the self-assured general from the future to the nervous man was an eye opener for the observers present.

"Anyway, yeah, we can go to the future, heal him up and send him back here before you know it," Ranma replied, not wanting to face Laura right now.

"Then it looks like the fate of your younger self is in your hands," Professor X acknowledged with a nod. However there was something he needed to know. "Do you think you tell us how your War started?"

Ranma looked over to Laura, who was dragging his younger self toward the group, and was not surprise that the question was asked. "Are you asking me, Professor, for my help to erase my own timeline? This could be a time loop. For all you know, someone from the future showed up like Fyro did in my past and the same event transpired. Are you asking me to help you kill my people?"

Professor X averted his eyes and felt mildly ashamed, yet he did not want mutant-kind to be tied to one set destiny. Especially one so horrific. A quick glance over to Hank McCoy showed that the blue mutant was thinking the same.

Ranma let loose chuckled as he saw the expressions on the Professor and Hank's faces. "I'm just messing with you! Seriously, I don't give a flying fuck about causality. I'm all but certain that what I'm about to tell you will make your timeline divergent anyway."

Wolverine and the younger Laura growled at the Ranma from the future.

"Ahem. Right. It- oh!" Ranma began, but stopped when he spied a figure coming toward them, seemingly riding on a cloud. "Evan and Younger Myst!"

"R-Ranma?!" Evan asked as he jumped down from the strangely solid cloud before spotting his professor. The older version of his friend, who's shirt was little more than rags, smiled in welcome at him.

Myst herself looked slightly nervous about the larger cloud's presence around them. She felt that if it came down to it, this cloud mutant could swallow her essence whole. Still, she turned her attention to the future version of her friend and struggled to maintain her form after taking in the sight.

"Hottie." Myst blurted out immediately, before looking shyly away. She noticed that the Cuckoos were there and also appeared to have a slightly intense look in their eyes.

The Ranma from the future blinked once, twice, and on the third time let out a loud laugh. "That's right! You use to be unable to talk in full sentences. I had forgotten."

"Hey! I got there eventually didn't I?" The cloud condensed older version of Myst and glared at Ranma.

"Holy Sh- Myst? You're from the future?! You're the future version of Myst?" Evan asked, trying to keep it all straight looking at the very familiar older woman next to his future friend.

The Myst from the future nodded at the black boy before she turned to her younger self that was staring wide eyed. "Oh, I was such a cutie!"

There was only one word that could really sum up what the younger Myst was feeling. So she uttered it with as much emotion she could muster. "Eek."

"You finished helping already?" Ranma asked, looking at the deadliest and most flighty of his generals.

"Che. Yeah, that was so easy, I moved everyone into a central location and they're all just relaxing. I also grabbed some food and first-aid kits for them," the Myst from the future stated.

"Ahem," Professor X cleared his throat at the two lifelong friends.

"Ah right, sorry, got side tracked. Ah yes, about how the war started and how I think it could be stopped," Ranma reasserted himself and glared at his Myst before looking apologetic to the current X-Men. "The answer that I came up with, after studying everything all these years, is simple. Don't let Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, get assassinated in Genosha."

"Oh my stars and garters." Hank chimed, in looking concerned. "Wanda... the Scarlet Witch will be assassinated in Genosha?"

"That is correct," Ranma confirmed with a nod. "I wasn't there for it, of course, but it was confirmed by all accounts and Bastion agreed. If the Scarlet Witch didn't die, we might have averted war. So you must prevent her from being killed."

"Save the cheerleader," the Myst of the future began, her facial expression completely serious. "Save the world."

Without saying a word, Ranma hand glowed lightly and he poked one of his fingers at the future Myst.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" Myst whined as she rubbed the spot Ranma touched.

"This is no time for jokes, I trying to prevent that future here," Ranma voice took on a commanding tone that made the woman nod immediately.

Cyclops looked around at his teammates before looking back to the man from the future. "I think I speak for everyone here when I ask, how does the death of a single mutant spark a war?"

Ranma sighed and looked at the group assembled before him. "The long and short of it was this. The Scarlet Witch, sometime down the line, went crazy. Her power could bend realities slightly, making her highly dangerous."

Cyclops appeared stunned and looked to Emma, who was in a similar state. They had never realized the Scarlet Witch had so much power.

"I am unsure of the specifics, only that the Scarlet Witch would go insane before the Avengers could stop her and then... while on her father's island of Genosha, someone from the Coalition of Humanity slaughtered their way past all of Magneto's guards and killed her. Magneto, in retaliation, pulled down an asteroid and made it crash into a major Coalition base in Texas, wiping out its population."

Everyone remained silent as Ranma spoke, some not even realizing they were holding their breath until they actually needed to exhale.

"That was the beginning of what we called 'The War,' which was really a successive chain of wars between superhumans and mutants with Sentinels being manufactured around the clock to help combat mutants all over the world."

"Erik..." Professor Xavier said softly, knowing how much his friend loved his children.

"Eventually people like me joined the fight. Martial artists proved to be effective, but don't show up on their mutant scanners. The Coalition scientists panicked. They installed new programming into the next generation of Sentinels to enable them to attack humans, and of course they eventually made the leap that all of humanity must die."

Ranma fell silent, appearing lost in thought before he made eye contact with the professor.

"Eventually the term 'Mutant' became a singular word for both superhumans and the mutants as we know in this day and age."

"This can all be prevented if we save Wanda?" Jean asked softly, stepping in closer to the man before her. A man, she realized, that was a great deal older then her.

"I believe so," Ranma nodded, seeing the expressions of the assembled people before him. They no doubt needed time to chew on that. "I don't have specifics, I don't think anyone did, and Laura was indisposed at the time. No one really knows what happened. Just remember, when the Scarlet Witch goes insane you need to foil her assassination."

Everyone fell silent, some looking at the boy turned man before them. The hard, grizzled veteran of countless battles.

"Thank you Mr. Saotome," Professor Xavier finally spoke up with a grateful look on his face. "I can only imagine the horrors that you three have endured. You, Laura and Ms. Varro here have made us very proud with your actions. I truly thank you."

To everyone's shock, the older Ranma averted his eyes, while the older Laura and Myst looked at Ranma with concern. It was Jean, however, who recognized the look that flashed in the older Ranma eyes. It was one of guilt.

"I, uh..., you really shouldn't thank me," Ranma corrected before looking at his winged granddaughter. "Fyro, time to go home."

Fyro, the bubbly mutant they had come to know, appeared to be quiet and subdued as she slowly walked over to the older Ranma. "C-can't I stay here? I mean if it is a divergent time-line, can't I stay since it wouldn't affect our timeline any?"

To the group's surprise, the older Laura and Myst suddenly found their surroundings very interesting.

"No," Ranma shook his head to emphasize the point. "You have obligations back home. Some that you probably weren't aware of."

Fyro blinked. "Like what?"

"Like the engagements that I set up for you of course," Ranma replied casually. His granddaughter's jaw dropped in shock. Likewise the other X-Men and Jean in particular looked at him in muted surprise.

"Ma- My what?!" The winged mutant shouted out loud, her eyes full of betrayal. "How? When? Who?!"

"Your engagement. And as for the how, easy, they asked. I agreed, but with certain conditions. When? There were certain interstellar empires that have been observing our war with great interest. And the who? Well, you have the Spartax under Emperor Quill, The Shi'ar Imperium under their Empress Lilandra, the Kree Empire under their leader Blackbolt, and the United Skrull Kingdoms under King Dorreck VIII."

"Lilandra and Blackbolt?" Cyclops exclaimed in surprise. How had the Inhumans leader become the head of the Kree Empire?

"Yeah, figured you'd recognize the name. It's the third generation princes that Fyro here is engaged to," Ranma motioned over to the stunned bird-girl before walking over and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Naturally, I declined instantly at first but... they made an offer I couldn't refuse. However, I did add the stipulation that Fyro here gets the final say. In turn, she just has to give them a fair chance."

The girl in question sank to her knees, looking dazed. All her dreams of marrying and being here with the younger version of her grandfather had just turned into dust.

"Ranma, how could you?" Jean admonished her older student with disappointment in her eyes. "You hated arranged marriages. Why would you do this to your granddaughter?"

Ranma turned to look at his former mentor and sighed. "Because, I couldn't win a war if I had to worry about invaders from space."

"Of course," Hank mused as he realized the full implications. "If Earth was at war, then many of Earth's enemies would pick this as the most opportune time to invade the planet."

"Exactly," Ranma nodded as he stretched his muscles. He hated talking about politics, but he wanted to show Jean that he was not like his father. "While Empress Lilandra was known to be a great friend of Earth, the Kree and the United Skrulls Kingdoms did not want the Shi'ar influence to extend that far. Likewise, the Emperor of Spartax felt that Earth should be protected from invaders, but lacked sufficient reason to actually do so without inciting dissent among his people."

"I see..." Professor Xavier nodded and smiled. "I take it a compromised was reached?"

"It was," It was Laura Kinney, the older one, who answered for Ranma. "It was Sky Marshal Saffron who came up with the compromise. When the war was over, he would offer the youngest child of his line to wed into any of the four empires. For the Shi'ar, the bloodline of the Phoenix Mutants was hard to pass over. Emperor Quill accepted right away. The Skrull, wanting stronger blood line in their royal family, also pushed for the engagement. And the Kree would not be outdone. In exchange, Earth and the one thousand light years of space around it would be protected by the Interstellar Empires."

"Why not Ranma's bloodline? He's the High General, so wouldn't he be more valuable?" The younger Laura asked, looking at the older version of the boy who had beaten her in several spars.

To everyone's surprise Ranma chuckled. "That's because I'm worthless, literally, on the galactic scale."

It was the older Laura again who stepped in to explain, but only after giving the older Ranma a withering glare. "Ranma, despite his power, is still a baseline human. Any gifts he possesses are not guaranteed to be passed onto his children. While Saffron, a powerful Omega mutant, on the other hand..."

"Of course," Emma Frost chimed in as she understood why Fyro was chosen. "It's all about bloodline, especially with nobility."

"And that's it in a nutshell," Ranma agreed before kneeling down to face his granddaughter. "If I could spare you, I would. But at least I had to make sure you get final say on who you will choose."

"But...I...," Fyro spoke up, wanting to protest, but she realized that her Grandfather was in a hard position as well. "I will do it... for you."

Ranma rubbed the head of his granddaughter fondly and smiled at her. "Good girl."

There didn't seem to be much else that needed to be said, as Cyclops and Emma Frost left to assess the damage to their school along with Hank McCoy, the younger Laura and Wolverine.

Standing back up, the older man gave everyone a look and a soft smile. "It really was great seeing everyone again."

"You have exceeded all of my expectations Mr. Saotome," Professor Xavier extended his hand and was instantly met by a strong grip. "I am glad that you have been able to unite our two people together, despite the horrors."

"I... I did what you all taught me," Ranma replied softly before letting go of the Headmaster's hand. He then turned to Sybil and saw her meekly duck her gaze upon seeing him. He had forgotten how feral-type mutants reacted to him now.

"R-Ranma," Sybil spoke shyly, her exuberant demeanor gone. There was something so animalistic about Ranma, his aura that all of her senses was screaming for her to submit to him as his mate. She was afraid if she touched him she would succumb right there on the spot. To avoid that embarrassment and with great will she backed away. "It's... I-I gotta go!"

"What's her problem?" Celeste spoke up, watching the cat mutant run away from the older Ranma as if he was contagious.

"Cuckoos!" Ranma bellowed making the blonde triplets jumped. Before they could react he scooped all three of them into a hug.

"Eeek!" Irma squealed at being lifted up effortlessly by the larger man.

"What- What you doing you idiot!" Celeste protested, trying to shove the man away.

"Thi-this is inappropriate!" Phoebe chided the large man but did not protest as much as Celeste.

"Don't care!" Ranma cheerfully replied as he mashed the girls closer to him, smiling all the while.

It was Celeste who realized, after a few futile attempts at freeing herself, that she was feeling the older Ranma's well-toned body. Suddenly, her face went red as she realized what she was doing. It didn't help that she was still linked to her sisters, and so felt Ranma strong arms around her sisters as well.

Placing the three red-faced Cuckoos down, Ranma turned to face the last person he had sorely missed.

"Jean."

"Ranma." Jean smiled softly at the boy she knew and the man before her.

"Do me favor," Ranma grinned mischievously, making the redhead wary. "Read my mind."

Jean narrowed her eyes suspiciously but slowly delved into her student's mind and was instantly assaulted with memories. Memories from another time. Despite the speed of the memories, she easily deciphered them.

_Ranma's mother was sick? He left the Institute after he graduated? He attended her funeral a year later? He took over care of Saffron? He married another Tendo and ran their school? His wife died in one of Magneto's attacks? Sabertooth forces killed his children. He killed Sabertooth, he killed Magneto. He appeared lost, in pain, and purposefully let the world burn. Saffron left Ranma to fight for mutantkind. Ranma wandering the world and coming across an orphan in Alaska. She reminded him of Jean, he adopted her, trained her. The two wandered the world staying only in the wilds. Alaska turning out to be a mutant, Ranma getting involved and destroying her Sentinel hunters. Meeting Saffron again after two decades. Saffron and Alaska falling in love. Ranma smiling at the union. Ranma deciding to fight on the mutant side. Ranma being distrusted by the armies of mutant-kind for being a flatscan. Ranma witnessing the birth of his first grandchild. Ranma finding her injured, surprisingly still young looking, but depowered. Ranma nursing her back to health. Her and an older Ranma talking. Catching up. Laughing, and the scene continued for just a while until one night she came into his room and disrobed... and... AND...!_

'Oh my god!' Jean thought as she blushed furiously at what she had seen what her and Ranma, the older one, had done. Before she could react or think of anything else, Ranma scooped her up into his arms and kissed her passionately. To her own surprise, she responded in kind before pushing herself away from him.

"What-" Irma began as she saw the older Ranma locking lips with the headmistress.

"-the-" Phoebe continued for her sisters, just as stunned at what she saw. Would this be consider an illicit student/teacher affair?!

"-fuck?!" Celeste demanded, her eyes switching back and forth between Jean and the older Ranma. Could no one win against the redheaded harridan?!

"DUDEEE!" Evan exclaimed as he saw what had unfolded. Right now, in this moment, Ranma was his own personal hero.

Myst coolly observed the kiss with utter fascination. She looked over to see her future self smirking, while the future Laura rolled her eyes at the display.

Ranma left Jean panting and red-faced and grinned before turning around to look at his two friends. "Evan. You were my best friend. Thank you." He said as he held out his fist in the manner Evan had taught him.

Evan grinned as he gave his friend a fist bump. "You are the man!"

Ranma mirrored Evan's grin before looking over to the younger Myst. "Myst."

"Ranma." Myst uttered, wondering what he would say to her.

**-Bzztnnn!-**

"Looks like I'm a Jedi after all," Ranma grinned while holding a ki-blade in front of him, but shaped the energies to look like a lightsaber. Of course, anyone could do that. He smirked as he began to back away from the younger Myst a bit.

Myst was already having a hard enough time keeping her form after seeing a genuine looking light saber produced by Ranma in front of her. She knew he was a Jedi! She knew it! Then Ranma began to twirl the blade around, just like a Jedi... and she let herself go.

Ranma did a few more movements he remembered from the Star Wars shows before stopping after seeing the younger Myst become nothing more than a floating cloud.

"The younger me just had a nerdgasm," the older Myst observed in amusement. She then looked at her commanding officer. "Thanks."

"My pleasure," Ranma smiled back at his trusted friend. Looking at the thoroughly shocked group, Ranma tried to burn the image forever in his mind. He took in the sight of the sputtering Cuckoos, an extremely red-faced Jean, down to a discombobulated cloud and finally his old friend.

"Package secure," Laura announced, moving the younger body of Ranma close to them.

"Right then," Ranma agreed as he took an onion from hidden space. "Let's go home."

Evan and the rest saw Ranma rub the onion to his eyes, a tear drop falling onto the mirror and in a flash of light they were gone.

***2121, Free Peoples Headquarters***

Ranma woke up startled, his movements were sluggish, as if he was underwater. After a few seconds he realized he WAS in water. His vision was hazy, mostly due to being underwater, but he realized he must have been taking deep breaths to begin with. That was when he noticed there was some kind of breathing apparatus on his face that was supplying him with his air.

After calming down, he could make out several people moving in the distance, which was weird if he was actually underwater. Looking closely, he realized he was actually enclosed in a glass tank. Reaching out, he was able to float his body over toward the glass and touched it.

Apparently, his movement caught someone's attention, as he could make out a person nearby scrambling around. Suddenly, a wave of fatigue hit him and without really wanting to, he closed his eyes.

The next moment when he regained consciousness, the water looked to be a lot clearer than before, and not as blue. He was still in the tank, but leaning in front of him was someone whose profile looked a lot like Myst.

The woman had been casually leaning on his tank when she turned her head after seeing him move. Upon making eye contact with her, she burst out into a wide open smile and waved cheerfully to him. Confused, he could only wave back as she turned around and spoke to someone nearby. Whatever she said appeared to cause yet another flurry of action as people seemed to move around a lot.

Then he spotted a familiar girl approaching the tank. It was Fyro, the casual clothes she had were gone, replaced by an oriental inspired, white Chinese-cut battle dress. Upon seeing him, she too smiled widely as she placed her hand on the tank.

A small tapping on the glass brought his attention back to the Myst-like woman. She had written something on a piece of paper and plastered it against the tank so he could read it.

_'We put you in a Bacta Tank! Isn't that awesome?! XOXOXO!'_

'Bacta Tank?' Ranma mouthed to the woman, which caused her to frown. A second later he shook his head as, no, he had yet to watch Star Wars.

Suddenly the water in his tank began to drain, startling him, but in no time he was standing in the empty tank. That was when he noticed his state of undress. Except for some tight hugging boxers, he was exposed. Fyro seemed to be blushing quite a bit, but it was the Myst-like woman who was licking her lips in a very sultry manner that made him nervous.

"Hig- Mr. Saotome, You can remove the mask now, we're opening your chamber." A voice spoke into the tank.

Immediately after the tank drained a powerful warm wind-force fired into the chamber, drying him instantly. With a light hiss, the glass around him was lifted up and he found himself standing in a room full of people in white suits. Disturbingly enough, some of them were giving him reverent looks.

"Glad to see you back on your feet Ranma." the Myst look-alike greeted warmly.

"Grandpa!" Fyro chirped in warmly as she backed up a bit to let him exit. "Are you okay?"

Ranma knew that it couldn't be Myst, the woman spoke too fluently to be his friend. Upon Fyro's questioning however, his eyes widened in alarm as he remembered exactly what he had been doing before he woke up in the tank. "Fyro! The School, what happened? Where are we?"

"Hey, No worries, Ranma. We took care of all the Sentinels," Myst assured the panicking pigtailed boy. Grabbing some white, loose-fitting clothes she tossed them to the boy. "Now wear this, unless you want some of the women here to jump your bones on the spot."

"Huh?" Ranma asked before staring at the white outfit given to him. "Wait... what happened to the clothes I was wearing?"

"Oh, those old rags?" the Myst look-alike asked before grinning. "We burned them. Ranma said it was tradition."

"I did?" Ranma asked, looking at the woman in confusion. He didn't recall telling anyone to do any such thing.

"Whoops," the woman replied before she palmed her forehead. "I'm sorry. I meant MY Ranma."

"Your Ranma?" Ranma asked again, even more confused as she stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"Jeez, when did I educate him in sci-fi? He wasn't always this dense... was he?" Myst muttered before looking back at him. "Ranma, you are in the future. Fyro's future."

Ranma eyes bugged out as he turned to look at the winged girl who claimed to be his granddaughter.

"What Myst said is correct, we're home. My home," Fyro apologized to the younger boy as she stood next to him and intertwined her arms with his.

"Wait, you're actually Myst? The future version of her? Really?" Ranma asked as he really looked at the woman who was apparently his friend with a hundred-some years tacked on to her life.

She scratched her chin as she looked up and then tapped her forefinger on her lips, before she turned her head back to Ranma as she said, "Actually, I'm present day Myst, and you just happen to be the past self of my Ranma from years gone by who is friends with my adorable past self."

Ranma began to open his mouth, but his words were cut off when the beast that masqueraded as his stomach let out a hearty roar to voice its desire. Ranma sheepishly cringed and scratched the back of his neck while Fyro giggled. Myst smiled and tossed him a foil packet as she said, "That's food. It really isn't as good as what we had in the past, but it's better than a lot of the other options we have around here."

Ranma opened the foil packet and found paste that smell a bit like a hot pocket. Shrugging he began to eat it as he followed the two women. He noted that many of the people passing by them looked at Fyro and the Myst with great respect.

"Commander Fyro." One soldier snapped to attention upon seeing her.

"General Myst." Several patrol squads snapped a salute upon seeing the woman in question.

"Pretty overwhelming huh?" Myst asked as she continued to grin, but walked on confidently. She then pointed to some windows on her left and in her best tour guide voice declared. "And to your left you can see humanity's headquarters, while to your right you can see outside of this beautiful world we are in."

Turning to his left first he recognized what looked to be a geo front, with cities built into the ground. The corridor they were in was pretty high up, and here and there he could spot flyers. Turning to his right he saw a gray desolate wasteland. A sharp contrast to the city to his left, the latter sight stopped him in his tracks as he walked up to the window and placed his hand on it. The two woman moved in behind to take in the sight with him.

Everywhere he looked there was nothing but gray barren rock. He could see rain in the distance, but the blanket of black thick cloud that appeared to cover the area seemed to have no end. The thing that stood out the most was that there was zero vegetation, not even a single patch of grass. For once, he could understand why Fyro was stunned by the blue sky. He would have been too if this was all he grew up knowing.

"Fyro... I had no idea..."

A soft hand fell on his shoulders and gave him a reassuring squeeze, a white wing covered him protectively. "It's not much, but its home." Fyro replied with a smile.

"Ahem, we kind of need to go see Ranma now that he's awake," Myst prompted with a cough in her hand.

"Wasn't he... entertaining Director Howlett?" Fyro asked, her teeth grinding together as if finding something distasteful.

"Not anymore," Myst winked at the winged beauty, who let out a quick huff of annoyance. "He was in his quarters when I last checked in with him."

Fyro nodded before they lead Ranma deeper, into an elevator, and ascended to the higher levels. Ranma followed obediently and noticed that the section they were traveling in was much more heavily guarded. Finally they passed two massive guards before arriving at a large door with the words 'High General' printed on it.

Before Myst could even press the button to call for her Ranma, the door opened.

Ranma was greeted by the most surreal sight in his life. There he was, a hundred years older, and looking no older than his early thirties. He knew that the old freak and the old ghoul had lived a long time, but they were also shrunken gnomes. He would think Ranma would be showing signs of decay.

"Ranma!" The older Ranma greeted the time-displaced boy cheerfully. "Just like that damn mirror right?"

"...Right, just like the mirror," Ranma agreed, but still took in his counterpart's appearance. The man in question was wearing a form-fitting uniform, but the top part was unzipped and exposed his battled scarred chest. From a martial artist's view, it looked like future him had been through a hell and a half.

"Water?" the older Ranma asked, seeing the younger version of himself staring. Taking two glasses he quickly filled them and tossed one over to the younger boy. The boy effortlessly plucked it from the air, although a bit nervously. Looking at his own glass, the older one dumped it over himself.

Ranma looked at the change that washed over his future self. However, instead of the familiar girl, there was now a tall version of his girl form that filled out in many womanly ways. The red hair his girl side always had was an even deeper red for the older woman in front of him.

"Just in case you were wondering if the curse was gone, and how I don't age normally even among martial artists," the female Ranma stated with a smirk.

"So there is no cure?" Ranma asked, looking dejected at the realization.

"Not that I could find," the female Ranma answered before zipping up her suit, but only up until the cleavage area. Incidentally making herself look sexy without even trying.

"You're such a slut," Myst accused the red-haired woman before making her way into the room. Fyro followed suit. "That and a damn MILF."

"Yeah yeah," the female replied and waved her friend's comments off easily. "You're just jealous, Myst-chan."

Ranma watched as the two bantered with familiar ease. There was no heat in their voices, just playfulness.

"Oh, Ranma-kun, catch," the female Ranma tossed an object at the boy the moment the words left her mouth.

Catching it easily, Ranma looked down at the object and was surprised to find that it was a repaired Nanban mirror.

"What? How?"

"That is your way back home, and as for the how? Illyana," the redheaded female answered as she lounged easily on her sofa.

"Who?"

"Somebody you'll get to know eventually," the female Ranma stated before a sound from her bedroom door drew their attention.

Ranma sensed the presence that had just entered the room. When he turned to look at the newcomer, his jaw dropped. Mostly because he saw a supermodel covered in a bed sheet, but also because she looked like she might be an older version of the girl who had been persistently ambushing him back at The Institute.

"Hmm, I see the younger you is up and about," Laura Kinney observed as she moved in closer to the younger man. "To think you grew up from this to be such an asshole."

"Hey!" Both Ranmas shouted as one in protest.

Faster than the younger Ranma could react, Laura grabbed the boy and held him to her bosom. What happened next nearly fried the poor boy's brain, as the older woman gave the younger a searing kiss.

"MMMMFFFFHHHH!" Ranma said in protest as his arms flapped wildly, trying to move away from the aggressive girl.

"HEY!" Fyro jealously unfurled her wings and forcefully separated the two. Her younger grandpa was blushing badly while Laura looked like the proverbial cat that ate the canary.

"Hey, if your grandfather could kiss a younger version of your grandmother, then I can kiss a younger version of your grandfather," Laura stated smugly as she glared challengingly at the red-haired woman.

"That sounded weird on so many levels," Ranma answered with a shake of her head. Appraising her younger self, she stood up and walked over to him.

Familiar blues eyes met older blue eyes as the two Ranmas stared at each other. It was finally the redhead that spoke up first.

"What will happen to you in the future? I cannot say. I changed a lot of things, hopefully for the better. Unfortunately for you, I never wrote down what I knew, so I can't even give that to you. No shortcuts," the older Ranma told her younger counterpart casually.

"However, what I can give you is advice. You don't have to take it of course. You're Ranma fucking Saotome, no on tells you what to do, not even yourself right?"

"...what kind of advice?" Ranma asked. Sure, learning new martial arts techniques would have been great. But if his future self had created it, so could he, eventually.

"First, don't leave the institute. Stay, maybe apply for Elite program or that Avenger's one. For me, I left after I graduated and look how the world turned out!" The redhead chuckled at her own joke, but saw the other people in the room weren't amused. Naturally, they didn't think she made that much of a difference. Truthfully, she didn't herself. But at least this Ranma would be able to say he was there from the very beginning. Who knows how things could turn out. Of course, that was up to him.

"You left after all?" Ranma marveled, as he was still pretty sure he was going to be leaving after school was over. However, while he hate being told what to do... his future self said he didn't have to take her advice.

"Yes, I left. And while the X-Men and other mutants were dying, I was nice and safe in Japan teaching at the Tendo dojo, married to Kasumi," the redhead sighed sadly. "The world's problems were not my problem, I told myself. I did not need to pick a side, swore I never would, and look at where I ended up."

Ranma eyes widened at the revelation. That he would marry Kasumi was mind boggling, but to just focus on his own life as the world burns? He did not know what to think about that. The world had its own problems, but... the world destroyed itself. If he future self had stayed, could he have made a difference?

"I'll be honest with you, I am not sure if you staying would make a difference. But at least you'll know for sure," the redhead stated with a far away look in her eyes before refocusing back on her younger counterpart. "Me ignoring the war was the greatest shame and disgrace of my life. Don't make the same mistake."

"And Kasumi?" Ranma asked softly. His red-haired counterpart's eyes closing in sorrow told him all he needed to know. However just as quickly the sadness disappeared form his counterpart eyes and the mischievous playful glint returned.

"Secondly," the redhead whispered and leaned in closer. "Evan, Beak, Myst, the Cuckoos, Jean, they are real friends. True friends. The Xavier institute is not out to get you, they are not trying to use you. They are what we were we looking for. Don't keep them at arm's length."

Ranma shifted uncomfortably on his feet and looked guiltily over to the older Myst. "I will..."

"Finally," the redhead said with a grin before looking at Laura. "Become friends with Laura. She is, quite frankly, the meanest bitch in the yard. You'll want her on your side."

**-SNIKT!-**

Ranma looked over to see the bed sheet-covered woman in question, who had her four claws popping out from her knuckles and was emitting a low growl at the redhead.

"I kid of course," the woman replied innocently before pulling the younger Ranma in for a hug and whispered in his ear. "I'm not, I'm serious. Seriously. Meanest in the yard."

The redhead pushed Ranma away as Laura attacked her, only to be hit quickly with a pressure point, locking her muscles in place.

"Oh, you are SOOO going to get it when this wears off," Laura threatened, as she was frozen by the redhead's pressure point attack.

"Promises, promises," the female Ranma lightly brushed off before she turned back to the younger and male Ranma. "And that's it. Time for you to go back. No doubt Jean is quite worried about you. You have been gone for a week after all."

Ranma nodded softly, but turned to look at the people in the room. Despite the heavy atmosphere outside, in here, in this moment, he could sense the friendship and camaraderie among the century old people. He couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Locking eyes with the winged girl, his granddaughter from the future, he smiled at her.

"Thank you... for everything. Letting me see this," Ranma told the girl he had grown a bit fond of over the course of a couple of days. "I'll miss you around the campus, Fyro."

"Grandpa!" Fyro slammed into her grandfather with shameless tears and rubbed her tear-stained face against Ranma's cheek. "I was so happy to have met you. Really."

Ranma, for once, let himself enjoy the pure affection the girl showed him before he gently removed her and turned to everybody else. "Well... I guess this is it."

"Yep," the redhead shrugged and tossed an onion at her younger counterpart. "Watch your back."

"Always do," Ranma replied with a grin as he rubbed the onion in his eyes and felt the tears sliding down his cheek onto the mirror. His fondest wish was returning back to the Xavier Institute of his own time, and he felt a sea of light beginning to shine on the mirror.

"Oh, and don't forget to check your hidden space! I left something in there for ya!"

The younger boy's raised hand confirmed that he had heard her before the white light engulfed him. For a few moments, no one spoke up before the red-haired woman turned around and released Laura from the pressure point lock.

"You didn't want the mirror back?" Laura asked her friend with on and off benefits.

"Nah, the potential for abuse is too high. Better for him to take it with, away from here. Permanently." the redhead poured hot water over herself, turning back into a male.

Suddenly an alarm blared throughout the compound as everything shook violently. Ranma's communicator buzzed seconds later.

"What is it, what's going on Bastion?"

"What did you bring back from the moon? Its power readings are off the charts!"

"Is it over nine thousand?" Myst chimed in, unable to resist as Laura rolled her eyes.

"What is it doing?" Ranma asked as he made his way out of the room, flanked by his own personal guard detail.

"I- I think it's hatching!

At that, Ranma could only grin from ear to ear as he addressed his granddaughter. "Fyro, ready to go meet your grandmother?"

Laura and Myst could only look stunned at the revelation.

*** Xavier School for Gifted Youngster, Now ***

When the light cleared, Ranma found himself standing in front of a familiar mansion and smiled. In fact, there was a startled-looking Evan staring at him.

"Hey Ev- whoa!" Ranma began, only to dodge as Evan's first spike attack punched through the Nanban mirror, destroying it. "What the hell, EVAN?!"

"Who are you?" Evan shot back, assessing the boy as more bones protruded from his body. "How did you get here?Are you with the Brotherhood?"

"What? Evan it's me, Ranma!" Ranma defended himself. Did his white clothes make him look that different?

"What is going on here, Evan? What's all the commotion?" Wolverine came out growling before he spotted Ranma. His claws popped out immediately. "Who are you, bub?"

"Wolverine?" Ranma asked, noticing that the professor was dressed in a dark brown uniform. A few commotions later and he saw a group of teens exiting the house, stopping short to stare at him. However, this time Ranma had to stare wide-eyed back at the group.

"Who is he, Logan?" Storm asked, looking at their intruder.

"Jean? Cyclops? Professor Pryde?!" Ranma asked, feeling a headache coming on. Why were all the teachers so young? There was also a very young-looking boy that had Nightcrawler's ki signature, Professor Amara that ran the elemental classes, and why the hell was Rogue looking so gothic and green? Why the heavy lipstick?

"Professor Pryde?!" the cute girl in the pink blouse asked back in confusion. "What?"

That was it, Ranma realized something was wrong. Very wrong indeed. He must have overshot his mark. And then there was the fact that his mirror was broken. He was stuck here.

"God damn it!"

Broken Future END.

AN: Special thanks to UN for helping me make some of the scene funniers and fleshing out more of the goodies. ^_^

To answer the question. Yes that is the EVO universe he ended up in. As for why he ended up there, heh, the answer is already hinted in this chapter. So.. The next chapter or two would have Ranma do self reflection. It won't be action pack, it's just time for him to digest everything with some peace and quiet. After that the final two arcs! Two arcs that is making me decide if I should change the rating to M, just in case!

Also, people seem to be under the misconception that this would be an dimension hopping adventure...no. Ranma going back to 616A (That the name of that Marvel Universe) He's just taking a slight detour before getting there. One or two chapter max.

Also, for me, I flesh out the detail of what happen in the future. I ain't gonna pussy foot around like Matrix, Terminator and others future show and NOT show you what the future was like. To me that piss me off. Nope, just gonna give it to ya straight! So that mean whatever happen next will not be predictable.

So for the marvel fans, I put in a lot of easter eggs. And some of my editors say I should elaborate on what happened with Future that I can't put in the chapter itself without it feeling lone winded.

1. Nabiki Joined SHIELD.

2. Akane Stayed behind to fight with the X-Men.

3. Ranma Married Kasumi and kept her happy and content, while he was content.

4. The Tendo and Saotome felt that Ranma staying with Kasumi would afford her more protection from an ever darkening world.

5. Hope was found well after Saffron left Ranma to fight for mutant kind. Ranma being Ranma, found her in Alaska named her Alaska and calls her A-chan. He did not know she was a mutant. Their isolationist life style did not give her many opportunity to meet mutants thus not activating her abilities to copy any skills. He taught her a fighting style that you could find in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom "Phoenix -Jean Grey." If anyone want to know how good she was.

6. When Ranma found Jean again, that was the 9th time she had came back from the dead. Jean Grey will do Jean Grey things.

7. Saffron choose the last name Grey to honor his mother. Alaska became a Saotome. Hence Grey-Saotome. It's not incest. Not really! That's also why Fyro think it's okay to go after her young Grandpa who's not related by blood.

8. Yes that meant that Ranma failed to save his own Daughter he raised twice. First was his children with Kasumi from Mutants. Second from the Omega Sentinel at Fyro birth. Imagine how much self loathing and angst he still have for himself for that!

Myst trolls on purpose because everything is so fucked up. Logan is known as the Gentle Healer, Cyclops the All Seeing Eye.

10. Ranma just guessed Unit 7 identity because it was the 7th one he faced.

11. The attack on Texas lead to the Mutant Registration Act and a call to arms by the Superheroes to apprehend Magneto. The war escalate as there were more Mutants then Superheroes even drafting Villains. Sentinels was mass produced around the clock to augment the Superhumans. CoH was at the fore front.

12. It wasn't necessarily Fyro that was engaged but she was the last surviving child of Saffron. If it was a boy then he would have been engaged to the princesses of those empires. But at least Ranma get a better deal for trading her grandchild. 1000 Light Years is a lot better then Two bowls of rice and pickles don't you think?

And that's it to flesh out what happened. Now after this chapter, I am gonna go on a break maybe. My editors are definitely fatigue. We did 120k words within the span of two months! With real life stuff going on. Give my editors time to recharge their batteries hopefully and for me to start reading fanfic again! Catch up on Dragon Age, Shadow of MOrdor, Wow, omg...why do I have so many games!

I might, do the two evo down time chapters before I go on break. Depends. Gotta check with my eds. :D Thanks for all the support!

As always C+C welcome reviews appreciated!


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